The Parent Trap
by MemoryWriter
Summary: Sakura's on a business trip, so Sarada decides to run away & finally meet her father. When he doesn't recognize her & with his company in need of a child to house for the public eye to repair their image, she becomes the Uchiha charity case overnight. Can she keep her identity secret long enough while living with the Uzumakis and Sasuke in the Uchiha Mansion? (some BoruxSara)
1. PROLOGUE Pt1

**_Hello everybody!_**

 ** _It's been years since I've started another fanfic-chapter on anything, so I apologize for being a little rusty - but I hope you enjoy this new story I'll be working on! My last story ( The Endearment of Fake Dating) was my last fun project, and I'm hoping to complete this one for the long run as well! This story, while definitely containing some SaradaxBoruto, it's going to be a bit of a Parent-Trap/Sasuke learning fatherhood kind of story. I am IN LOVE with the new Boruto anime and I can't wait to continue writing this Sarada Fanfic! I hope you enjoy! Thank you for reading, everyone!_**

 **Chapter 1: PROLOGUE**

 _After Sakura takes a business trip overseas, her daughter Sarada - done with wondering about her long lost father - decides to run away and journey across the world to Japan to finally meet the man._

* * *

"We will be arriving in Leafville, Japan at 12:20 PM," announces the speakers.

It's been hours since take off, and we're almost to our destination. I've been tapping my fingers the whole time, or twiddling with the bottom of my sweater, or twisting a strand of my hair. I just can't seem to sit still, and somehow the twelve hour flight hasn't felt long enough.

I'd try to distract myself with other thoughts than the actual goal of the trip, in order to calm my nerves. I think about how I'm still not used to having such short hair. It's cut up above my shoulders, and instead of contacts I now have these annoying glasses, that occasionally fall past the bridge of my nose, so I have to push it back up sometimes.

So annoying.

But no matter how much I distract myself, I'll always drift back to him. To Dad.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

It all started JUST last week only. Right towards the end of school and well into June. We had one last project to finish up: the family tree research project every seventh grader has to do before summer.

I had my reservations. My mother, Sakura Haruno, for some reason just will. not. talk. about my dad. Once. I don't even know the man's name. I don't pester, but he's obviously not a legal subject in the household. So I've never really paid mind while growing up. Of course, I ended up doing my own research one day for the family tree project, and after a few four-hour-sleep nights, the internet finally delivered:

"Chairman of Uchiha Enterprises..." I'd read in disbelief. Chouchou and I are up during lunch break in the computer lab. There were articles all over the screen, and pictures of this gorgeous, model-like young man. I could even see the similarities between him and me. It was so scary, because I'd never looked too much like my mom. Now I knew where my eyes and hair came from.

"You're that guy's kid?" Chouchou pointed in disbelief, almost dropping her chip bag all over the computer lap floor. "Whoa!"

"Yeah... " I said breathlessly, just in as much shock. How did Mom- When did they?- Why'd-? WHOA.

Just too many questions.

So many that I didn't even care about the family tree project anymore. (I just made up fake names in the end after all) and instead came to the bigger question: will I ever meet him? He's ALL THE WAY on the other side of the planet. In _fucking_ Japan. But, he's there…

My curiosity overnight slowly turned to a desperate desire to meet him. Not just so I could fulfill my dream of finally meeting the man, but because it finally hit me - Mom was going on a business trip overseas to Paris for most of the summer.

Which meant-

 _I could go see Dad._

 _..._

 _No Sarada that's insane_.

But the second glance at my fake family tree sitting on my bed does it. And on that whim, I spent the rest of that afternoon with a notebook and calculator and laptop. Post its, index cards, markers and colorful pens, scattered all over the kitchen table. I was going to plan the shit out of this crazy idea, because it was going to work.

"No way," Chouchou gaped over the phone later that night.

I nodded, pacing in my bedroom with a notepad in hand (calculating costs), and cell phone between my ear and shoulder. "Yes way."

"NO WAY!"

"Chouchou."

After all the planning, and accepting that this was actually a doable plan, I called Chouchou up and explained everything to her for a very important second opinion. "So, let me get this straight, you're going to take a plane, fly to Japan, and just, go see your dad?!"

I nodded confidently, feeling all the acids in my stomach shooting everywhere. "Yes."

"Girl you are insane," Chouchou said. I could imagine her shaking her head.

"It's simple, I've calculated it down to a 'T'. I'll use mom's left over luggage, pack my essentials, buy the ticket online with all my savings, and-"

"-wing it," Chouchou put in my mouth. "Your perfect plan down to a T is to wing it."

"It's kinda hard when I don't have that much money," I said realistically, sitting on the bed.

"Do you even have any money to use when you get to Japan?" Chouchou asked.

"W-Well, not really," I frowned. Barely. The conversion from dollars is hard, but I definitely didn't have enough money to support my self for more than a day there. "But my dad's the pres. of Uchiha Enterprises – Chouchou they're in history text books. If anything bad happens, he can just, send me back on a plane and, show's over."

"You sure you're prepared to meet this guy? I mean, for the richest man on the other side of the world, you sure he's, you know, nice?"

"To be honest I have no idea," I relented as I collapse into my bed. I'm so anxious. "But by the time my mom comes back home I'll regret never having gone to do this. I have to meet my father."

In the end, Chouchou wasn't the only supportive friend I had.

Before the bell rings on the last day of school, I was surrounded by Chouchou, Denki, and Iwabee. "What's up guys?"

Chouchou held out a fat white mailing envelope, taped shut with my name on it.

Slowly it dawned on me what this is. No they didn't. I held my hands hold up. "Chouchou I can't take your money."

"It's all of ours," Denki spoke up. "Last night Chouchou called us and told us about you leaving to find your dad." My eyes widened and I looked to the girl, who returns a not too shameless smile. "Chouchou and I, and even Iwabee, pooled all of our allowances and our savings. There's about $900 in there."

Oh my god.

"Cash," Iwabee adds. Is he threatening me? "So don't lose it." Charity isn't really Iwabee's style, so this definitely means a lot.

"You guys are the best," I smiled, hugging them all. Chouchou's been with me since elementary school, Denki's been a reliable academic study buddy for years, and Iwabee, well, he and I can totally relate on the single parent sitch. The four of us have been inseparable, and they all knew how desperately I've been dreaming about meeting my dad.

Part one of plan: to pack. Done. Part two of plan: a disguise.

According to Chouchou, if I ever managed to get to Sasuke Uchiha, a man often in the spotlight of the media, I'd need a completely different look if I wanted to stay off Mom's radar. Any magazine or news clipping with a photo of me and I was long dead before I was grounded.

Thus the haircut and glasses.

"I haven't worn these glasses in ages," I inspected doubtfully as Iwabee combed my hair. Chouchou insisted. "You sure I can't just keep my contacts?"

"Do you want your mom to catch you?" Chouchou exasperates.

Iwabee started snipping, and my long waist length locks hit the floor. Denki looked more nervous about the haircut than I did. "Jesus Denki lighten up. I know how to cut hair," Iwabee said, irritated.

"S-Sorry, it's just," Denki could see half my hair on the ground. "Is all this change necessary? It's kinda extreme."

"I agree," I frowned, removing the contacts carefully so I don't mess Iwabee up. "Do you really think it's possible for my Mom to see me on some tabloid?" I ask skeptically.

"Trust me, you'll thank me later. Just look at how many magazines your dad's on." Chouchou turned her laptop around. On an internet search, countless magazines with his face. I guess she was right.

Part three: sneaking away from Karin, the babysitter.

Mom's not an idiot. She has a close friend, Karin, who is usually my long-term babysitter for when Mom does her business trips for more than a few weeks. And Karin is fantastic. A little antic and paranoid, but definitely cares. She and her two friends Jugo and Suigetsu usually spoil me when I'd miss my mom, or ask when she's coming home. They've practically raised me alongside mom.

Sorry Karin, but I'm definitely doing a number by pulling this stunt.

A quick bus ride to the airport instead of 'Chouchou's house' quickly turns into a one way trip to Japan. I'd left Karin a note under my pillow for when she'd eventually come looking for me. I turned off my phone, left behind Mom's emergency credit card, and promised her I'd contact her soon and to not tell mom. Not sure if she'll actually follow through on that, but I've made sure to not leave a trace.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

And I fully intend on keeping that promise. I still feel a little guilty because I know how worried Karin will get, but I have bigger things to focus on. Once I land I'll have everything together I'm sure.

I can still remember the last night at home, going through mom's room for anything there that might come in handy on the trip. Nice clothes she bought too small. Extra socks. Something. And amidst her desk, tucked behind the mirror, a photograph ripped in half. And just like I saw on the internet, the face of that onyx eyed man. It was the wedding day, and she has one half of the photo of them up at the alter – this half of the hidden away photo containing Sasuke Uchiha.

It makes me wonder if he has the half with her in it. The thought of mom in her wedding dress makes my heart flutter. She's been such an independent woman all my life, never needing anyone's help and never having gone on a single date at all. The idea of her in marriage felt so far away, until now.

I look at that photo on and off throughout the twelve hour plane ride. It's a long time to sit by yourself. Scenarios come through my head on how I'll arrive, how I'll tell him 'I'm your daughter'. Surely he remembers my mom. They were married once. Will he accept me? Love me? Dispose of me and send me back? I want to be prepared for every possibility (as impossible as that sounds), but really…. I just want him to want me back.

" _Passengers please turn off all electronics. We will be descending momentarily._ "

* * *

 _PREVIEW:_

 _"Shit where the hell is Boruto," Naruto panics quietly, scanning around past the crowds of photographers._

 _"You should learn to keep a hold of your kid better," Sasuke comments amidst his friend's panic._

 _x-x-x-x-x_

 _Boruto coincidentally looks down and sees my passport at the bottom of my bag. With a quick thought and glance between me and the bag, he darts his hand into my luggage and I notice too late as he already has it._

 _"Hey!" I run and try to grab it back, but he pushes my face away while trying to read it._

 _"Sarada Haruno, Sex Female, Age 12, From the US," he reads aloud before I finally steal it back. I swipe it close to my chest and hoard it like a secret. By now he has the oddest and most confused expression. "Well you're a long way from home."_

 _x-x-x-x-x-x-x_

 _Naruto frowns, looking stumped before he shakes his head no. "Nah, nah not really. He's kind of a jerk when it comes to press actually. Makes most of my downtime trying to repair his mess ups with our clients and partnerships." Dad... really sounds like an asshole. "He's pretty much an asshole."_

 _Dear god. "So... how come you almost try to make him sound like a good guy?" I ask, almost hopelessly._

 _"Because I know deep down he is," Naruto says whole heartedly, wearing that goofy grin he had when I met him._


	2. PROLOGUE Pt2

**_Hello! Thanks for the awesome feedback so far on chapter one! Here's the next one!_**

 **Chapter 2: Sasuke Uchiha**

 _After landing in Leafville, Sarada's on the search for her father. Little does she know that she'll be meeting her future family-to-be during her stay in Japan._

* * *

"So what else are your plans for greeting the ambassador?"

Sasuke's stare remains. Annoyed, and impatient. "What do you mean 'what else'?"

Naruto looks like he's about to pop a vein. _This guy_. "Sasuke you have to help me here. _You_ are the one with bad light in the press. _You_ are the one who needs the rep-repair. Just donating a couple hundred thousand dollars to a charity isn't going to help you!"

Boruto sits in the middle of the limo, watching the two adults go back and forth the whole ride. He's rather bored, and his hand held video game has just run out of battery. His bored stature matches almost that of Sasuke.

"I'm telling you, Uchiha, you need a game plan."

"Isn't that why we brought your kid?" Sasuke asks, rather being anywhere but here.

"I knew I was a tool," Boruto comments, tossing aside his dead game.

"No you're not," Naruto defends before the topic can get sidetracked. "Dude you know the ambassador is gonna ask you to take in a kid. He's been trying to work a deal out with me for days. How do you think you're gonna look in front of the press when you say no?"

"What, you want me to say yes?" Sasuke asks incredulously. "We're already going all this way to greet the guy. I'm not taking in some orphan-Annie."

"C'mon what about for just a few weeks? It's summer!"

"No."

"You bastard I'm trying to do my job and help you!"

"Then think of less idiotic ideas."

Despite the banter, Boruto sighs, hoping maybe he can sneak away when the limo reaches the airport. As irritated as he was being asked to be part of the Uchiha Enterprise's 'image-uplifting' mission today, he at least hoped he'd find something interesting to do on the outing to the airport.

The limo reaches the drop off, and press are already waiting along the walkways, anticipating _the_ Sasuke Uchiha. "Faces on," Sasuke preps, eyeing Naruto and Boruto. The driver exits the limo to come around and open the door.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

The small dispersing line of unboarding passengers slowly dissipates, and I'm off pulling my lone single carry on, with my other hand holding a piece of paper. 'Children's Safe Haven', was written on it, as well as a time: 11:10AM. This was the time my plane would be landing, as well the plane as this ambassador guy, who's supposed to be greeted by Sasuke Uchiha himself upon landing.

It's been all over the news online, which is why Chouchou and I picked such a certain plane ride and date. Finding and running into Sasuke this way would be a lot easier. Even up on a few flat screens by the waiting area is a news segment on the president of Uchiha Enterprises being expected at the Leafville Airport.

I follow a few people who look like tabloid and news crew, carrying such big cameras and running a similar direction. I put it together and grip my rolling bag, taking off after them. There's an excitement and anxiousness that fills me as I run.

' _Dad_...!'

In another section of the airport, past the luggage check and lines, keeping up with the camera men becomes difficult in the bigger crowds. Many women, all cheering and wooing words of adoration for Sasuke.

"Oh my god he's here?"

"We're so lucky!"

"He's such a hottie!"

And I have no idea how to feel about any of those comments.

On a sharp turn, I end up bumping into somebody, knocking them and myself down. My glasses fall off my face and slide across the floor between us. Before someone passing by can step on them, the boy I bumped into quickly swipes them.

I breathe out in relief as I prop myself back up. "Thanks."

"No prob." We both get up and he returns them. I manage a quick thank you before running away too, apologizing for my quick disappearance and clumsiness.

The boy looks in the direction of the mystery girl. "She's _running towards_ the paparazzi madness?" Boruto asks himself, arching his eyebrows. He'd finally snuck away from his dad and Sasuke. "Where the hell is this girl going?"

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

" _Shit where the hell is Boruto,_ " Naruto panics quietly, scanning around past the crowds of photographers.

"You should learn to keep a hold of your kid better," Sasuke comments as he stands up straight. He can see a couple of body guards escorting the ambassador from his plane, and coming towards them. "Look alive, here he comes."

Naruto straightens up quickly as the body guards clear a pathway of onlookers so Sasuke and Naruto can meet their new arrival. "Mr. Takuya," Sasuke greets professionally, holding out a handshake.

"Sasuke Uchiha, what an honor," the middle aged man smiles.

"This is my associate, Naruto Uzumaki," Sasuke introduces as both bow their heads. "Welcome to Japan."

"Oh no, I should be bowing to you," the ambassador laughs, bowing his head respectfully as well. "That was a hefty donation you left for the children. What a generous notion."

Meanwhile with me, being so short and having a luggage to drag around, getting actually past the ring of paparazzi was pretty difficult. You think being small would be helpful squeezing through. "Excuse me! Sorry! Excuse me!"

Elsewhere, Boruto watches from a second floor ledge, looking down below at the scene. Despite his powered out video game, he's pretty well amused. "So she was looking for them," Boruto watches.

I miraculously make it towards the front of the crowd, right up to a security guy holding out his arms. I can see right over his elbow, three men in the clearing. A blond with a long white trench coat, a balding man in a suit, and a rather classy looking man with very clean button down. _Him._

 _Dad.._.?

"Oh surely you must," the happy man insists. "I'm sure your facilities at the Uchiha Mansion are more than capable of taking care of children."

"I have a son who lives with us at the mansion," Naruto mentions. "Sasuke helps me take care of him. He's twelve now."

"That's quite remarkable," Mr. Takuya praises.

"So I'm afraid we won't be able to host any of the kids from your organization," Sasuke finishes.

"Oh come now, Mr. Uchiha. You and I both know what your charity stunt was clearly for," Mr. Tanaka insists beyond his facade of a face. I can sense Sasuke's face narrow as I key into the context.

"At least let one of the kids get something out of this meeting."

Sasuke was starting to lose his cool. "We're not running a hotel-"

"What Sasuke means-!" Naruto intervenes a little too quickly. "Is that-"

Suddenly, one of the camera men behind me accidentally, I guess, hover over too much and ends up pushing behind me end up falling, _again_ , on the floor. Instead, this time, it's right between my father and the blond man, right in the middle of their totally professional moment. Oooooohh my god Sarada this was not the plan.

Well, there was no plan, but this definitely wasn't what I wanted to do.

"Um," I stammer, pushing my glasses up. Suddenly I feel quite shy. "Uh.."

The blond man bends over to help me up, completely ignoring everyone else around him. "Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah," I blush. He too is quite handsome for an older man, much like my father supposedly. I look up at Sasuke too, but I didn't expect such an un-warm and unwelcome experession. It made me feel like I shouldn't have appeared here the way I did. Even if it was an accident, falling in. "S-Sorry. I was just... looking someone..."

"Hey! Sorry Dad!" a familiar voice pops in behind me. Through the crowd, I see the boy I bumped into earlier coming through, squeezing past the security who initially try to keep him out too. But, I'm guessing the blonde man who helped me up is... his dad? The boy picked up my knocked over bag and comes up beside me. "Sorry, Dad, Sasuke - She's with me. We were playing manhunt and uh, we got a little carried away, right-? Uh-"

"Sarada," I finish, noddin along with him. Oh my god this guy totally covered for me. Automatically my eyes dart to Sasuke for a second, to see if there's any recognition. There... isn't.

 _He doesn't know who I am_... _Oh my god..._

There's a gaping feeling in my chest, like how gravity pulls you down? Something even stronger is pulling something even heavier in my chest down, and down, and down, and down.

"We'll be out of your hair," the kid says as he pulls me back through the paparazzi crowd and away and out. Exiting seems a lot easier than getting in. Once we're out of view, and not on paparazzi attention, the kid's charismatic face disappears and he looks at me quite like how my dad did. "What the hell were you doing?"

"Look, thanks for getting me out of there, but this is none of your business."

"Are you a fangirl of Sasuke's?" he grins.

"What ew no!"

" _Stal-ker_ ," he teases.

Alright this is a waste of time.

But, now what? I wasn't really expecting to fail this fast, and with this much humiliation. "Can I ask you something?"

He looks quite surprised I'd ask. "Uh, sure."

"How is Sasuke?" I ask awkwardly. "I mean, what's he like?" The kid looks suspicious, and I realize how weird I must sound. "You do live with him don't you?"

"Yeah. My dad works with him so we live with the guy. He's, pretty cool," he tries to word out slowly. "He's always pretty busy, so I don't really see him too much. But when I do he's, kind of a jerk." I frown. "But in a cool way," he saves.

"There's a cool way to be a jerk?" I restate skeptically. But remembering how Sasuke looked at me, I guess it's not that far off.

"Look, I don't know you, and no offence, but it's probably best you stay away from all this junk."

"What about you?" I frown.

"My dad works for Sasuke. I'm part of that mess whether I wanna be or not. But I won't be there to pull you out of annoying situations next time alright?"

"Hey I didn't ask for your help okay, rich boy."

"Whatever," he scoffs, walking away. I stay behind for a sec, taking everything in. What a jerk. But otherwise, now I'm stuck. I wasn't expecting to fail this quickly, and to feel this humiliated. With all the action over with, it's finally sinking in that my father doesn't... know who I am. Doesn't recognize me, doesn't even look like he likes me.

It feels, pretty sucky.

It takes everything in me to not get on a plane and turn back home. Chouchou and the guys would kick my ass.

Eventually the noise from the paparazzi dies down as security guards start escorting Dad, blond man, and kid away. They come past my way, and the man with blue eyes locks with mine as I watch them go away. He whispers something to a security guard, and before I know it he actually starts coming towards me.

Is he?

 _Oh god he is._

I am extremely stiff and still. His smile, as opposed to Sasuke, is still super warm and welcoming. He kneels down to my eye level, and I can feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. "Hi. I'm Naruto."

Sarada say something. "H-Hello."

He looks at the luggage tag on my bag. "The U.S. You've come a long way to visit," he mentions.

"Naruto what are you doing?" Sasuke and the kid arrive behind Naruto. Probably to hurry him along to wherever they were going.

But Naruto ignores him. "Where are your parents?"

"Dad?" the kid asks suspiciously.

I shake my head. "I came here on my own. I was going to stay at a hotel."

"Perfect," Naruto smiles. "Why don't you stay with us?"

Without looking away, I can tell all eyes are wiiiide open. Like, oh-no open. " _Dad_!" the kid says through his teeth.

Sasuke glares. "Naruto-"

"Hey you already lied to Mr. Takashi and told him we've already taken in another kid," Naruto blames.

"And we do not need to follow up on that. Look at her Naruto I don't have time for kids." But the blonde man seems persistent for some reason. Naruto gives Sasuke some stern look, and there's a stand off between them for what seems like forever.

I look between the two, and the other kid appears to be doing the same.

But eventually, somehow, Sasuke manages to cave in. "... She's your problem." Sasuke walks away, with the security guards in pursuit on both sides. The kid looks between us and Sasuke, but eventually follows the Uchiha out, looking just as unsure.

What... just... happened.

"Are you sure about this?" I ask Naruto, tapping his sleeve. "You don't even know me. Why are you helping me?"

"To be honest, you'll be helping me. Let me ask you this, what are you doing in Japan all alone? You said you were looking for someone earlier weren't you?"

"Not really, I'm just here on vacation by myself for a while," I lie, a little sad as I try to ignore the fading back of my father.

"For how long?"

"Um, a few weeks?"

Naruto smiles. "I work as Sasuke's business partner for the Uchiha Enterprise. I was about to open up a summer scholarship program for a lucky kid to stay at the Uchiha Mansion for the summer." He winks, and slowly I start to wonder if he's really meaning what he says. "Like I said, you'd be helping give the company some good face. You need a place to stay - We need to look good."

"You mean Sasuke needs to look good," I frown. Naruto looks sympathetic, but I really do appreciate it. "So why me?"

"I've been praying for a miracle since dawn, kid. In case you didn't see that disaster of a meet-and-greet earlier, you're my answered prayer," Naruto laughs. "Not everyday a kid flying solo lands at your feet when you need 'em. And hey, if you do this for us, I'll pay you plus your trip home."

"No that's too much!" I deny. It's almost like he's bribing me.

"Please kid," Naruto almost begs. "The mansion's great. Boruto's your age and I'm sure you guys could get along." So that guy's name is Boruto. That's a stupid name. "You can give your parents a call from the mansion and explain the situation. I'm sure they'd be ore than happy with your new accommodations during your trip."

The look in Naruto's eyes shows sincerity. The universe is never this forward and helpful. It's almost too good to be true. I... I am going to pretend this is part of the plan.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

The limo ride to the famous Uchiha Mansion wasn't too long, but I definitely wasn't expecting to ride in a limo.

Feeling too awkward to look at or talk to Boruto or Sasuke, I remained seated next to Naruto the whole time, looking out the window. The view the whole ride was amazing though. Freaking Japan, man. The city, the trees, the skies, the air (even in here) - it all feels amazing.

It takes all I have to ignore the tension in the limo between the adults. "We're gonna talk about this," Sasuke says, arms crossed.

"Hey relax, Sasuke. You said it's my problem, right?" Naruto laughs. He leans back in a slouch and crosses his legs. "You worry about whatever else you need to do today and I'll tend to Sarada and the other stuff you don't wanna worry about."

At that, the limo pulls up past an automatically opening gate. "Whoa..." The cobblestone roads line the way to the gigantic infamous mansion. A well kept garden welcomes any first time visitors for great impressions. Some gardeners are well away at trimming some hedges, and stop in time to bow in respect to the limo coming down.

We park down in the parking area, I guess, right next to a few other really nice cars. The driver opens the door to let us out, as Naruto carries my bag for me. Exiting the garage past this door, we enter the main house.

"Mom we're home!" Boruto announces in a rather bored tone. I come in last as the boys enter through into the main ballroom. Marble and flowers and natural light from tall, tall windows adorn the space. It's such a shocker that all I can do is walk in while turning in a circle. It's such an amazing sight. I can hear Naruto chuckle at my astoundment.

A beautiful dark haired woman comes down the main staircase, passing Boruto who disappears up her. Probably to return to his room and get away from this madness. "Welcome home," she announces in the most soft yet commanding tone. What a beatiful woman. She spots me, receives an apologetic look from Naruto, and notices Sasuke more unusually... ignoring of matters than usual. She passes him down the stairs. "Who's the child?-"

"Ask your husband," Sasuke brushes off, disappearing towards another door upstairs.

The woman looks rather surprised, and notices Naruto lead me up to her. "Um, hey Hinata," Naruto greets. "This is Sarada."

I wave nervously. "Hi, Mam."

"Dad decided she's going to be our orphan Annie!" Boruto's voice echoes from the top of the staircase. He's holding a different video game. "We picked her up from the airport!"

"Boruto!" Naruto lectures before turning back to a confused 'Hinata'. "She is going to be staying with us, though. As our charity-face, for a little while."

"I thought Sasuke wasn't going to-"

"Yup," Naruto nods. "He's making a big mistake, so I just thought-" Naruto sighs, running his hand through his hair. "Help?"

"Of course," she smiles warmly, rubbing his arm in assurance. "You head to yours and Sasuke's office so you can finish today's work. I'll settle Sarada in."

"AGH I love you!" Naruto laughs, kissing her very fast before he runs off. Her turns around meanwhile with thumbs up. "Don't worry Sarada! You're in good hands! I'll see you around later!"

I wave goodbye, somehow feeling nervous being left alone without Naruto. Even with such a nice woman like Hinata. "Hello," she greets, coming the rest of the way down to me and holding my hand. "I'm Boruto's mother, and that guy's wife. I'll show you where your room is."

"I get my own room?"

"Of course. If you'll be here for how many weeks, you deserve at least that much," she smiles. She leads me up the rest of the stairs to the second floor of the mansion and takes a right. we pass Boruto at the top of the stairs on his game. "Boruto, can you carry the bag for us?" she asks.

"Why do I have to?" he pouts.

Nonetheless he ends up giving in, not that he lets us forget how much he doesn't enjoy it. Eventually we reach a door, locked. Hinata brings out a key that opens the knob and when it opens, the inside is nothing like the bedroom I have back home.

Now, I live pretty well off and okay. Like, comfortable middle class. A really nice apartment with my mother. But despite this room obviously being a guest room and not specialized for any particular person, it was comparable to a fancy five star hotel one-person room. The cream-white bed sheets, the pink floral gold-leaf wallpaper, the pastel colored carpet and white dresser and desk. It's probably like Mom's dream room.

"I hope this will be alright for your stay," Hinata smiles as she lets me in.

"N-No this is great," I say gratefully. "It's beautiful."

"I'm glad you think so," Hinata says. She turns to Boruto, who drops my bag by the door. "I'll let you unpack and settle in. Boruto, why don't you stay with Sarada and keep her company for a while? Or show her around?"

"Come on. Dad said he'd play babysitter, not me."

She gives a look, which leaves Boruto silent and she walks off. Passed on to this guy of all people. He looks at me with the most suspicious glare. All I can do is walk to my bag and unpack whatever it is I managed to bring with me. At some point, the staring becomes too much. "Alright what is your problem?"

"What's yours?" Boruto argues back. "How-... How the hell did you manage to make it all the way into my house?!"

"If you wanna stay away from me I won't complain."

"Ah. Ahaha. No way. You're up to something. And I'm gonna find out and get you out of here as fast as I can."

What? This guy is such- "Why do you hate me so much? I didn't do anything to you."

"Yeah but here you are, all up in my space."

I take out all three pairs of my clothes from the luggage and plop it onto my bed to sort out. Boruto arches his eyebrow at how little clothes I have on me. I inwardly groan. "I can stay out of your way okay? You don't have to be such a drama queen about it." Please just leave?

"Are you some kinda spy?" Boruto teases, pouting and peering at me while leaning against the door. "A stalker?"

I roll my eyes, taking out my laptop from the bag and to my bed. "For the last time, I'm not a stalker."

Boruto coincidentally looks down and sees my passport at the bottom of my bag. With a quick thought and glance between me and the bag, he darts his hand into my luggage, and I notice too late as he opens my passport.

"Hey!" I run to him and try to grab it back, but he pushes my face away while trying to read it.

"Sarada Haruno, Sex Female, Age 12, From the US," he reads aloud before I finally steal it back. By now he has the oddest and most confused expression. "Well you're a long way from home."

"So what? I'm on vacation."

"A kid flying all the way across the world by herself," he scoffs.

"What. Kids do."

"Yeah to like, long lost aunts for birthdays or weddings or whatever." He narrows his eyes. "I'm onto you. There's something fishy and I'm gonna find out what, and you'll be out of here faster than Sasuke for work."

I thought Sasuke drove me nuts. This guy's the worst! "Look, it's not like I wanna stay here forever okay?" I accidentally slip out. He arches his eyebrow, and now I know there's no going back with this guy. I sigh and sit down on the bed to rub the middle of my brow. "I'll be out of your hair as soon as I can, okay? I just-," _breath Sarada_ , "- I just need to not get kicked out of here. Please?"

I hate resorting to begging. Especially to some spoiled brat like Boruto. But if anyone can ruin this whole trip for me, it's this guy.

He looks thoughtful. Mercy, please.

"The faster I do what I need to do without interruptions, the faster I'll leave, I swear," I say one more time. "Just, a few weeks and I'll go."

"Just a few weeks?" I nod for him, sounding pretty desperate. Is he trying to make me bow at his feet or something? "... Deal."

I try not to let out all the air I've been holding in this past minute. "Thank you."

"So what is it exactly you're trying to do?"

I close my eyes. He's like the annoying little brother I'm glad Mom never had.

Boruto snickers. He must know just how much he's getting under my skin. "Alright alright, don't tell me," he says with hands up.

"I'm here to steal the Uchiha fortune," I joke, earning enough of a smug laugh from him.

"Whatever you say, sta-lker," he mouths heavily before (finally) leaving me alone. I can hear his laugh echo down the hall a little, like some kind of evil villain. Oh my god.

I shut the door and finally revel in my alone time since landing. I change my clothes into another pair. A simple red shirt and some white khakis for home, and some cozy socks. I feel kinda bad because I forgot my favorite slippers from home. Normally I don't wear socks, but I hate being barefoot too. Mom's the same way. Aaaagghh I'm so mad at me.

With my laundry in what appears to be a small laundry hamper, and my last two pairs of outfits and underwear put away in my dresser (so much extra space haha), I soon found out my room comes with my own private bathroom. And it's so pretty. It has such soft lighting, and a gorgeous bathtub. I was able to shower and clean up before I got to return to my new bed.

Laying in it for the first time, don't get me wrong it's incredibly soft. But I've slept in hotels before with Mom's clsoer-to-home travels. I've never slept well in anything that wasn't my bed. And I'd thought visiting my father, I imagined sleeping in my bed after that dragging airplane ride would be, you know, heavenly.

But right now, I kinda just feel like, a guest, at a really fancy hotel. Not like... I'm visiting my dad for the first time.

I know I'll start to cry if I think about it too long, but I'm in the field and I can't cry now.

While my hair is drying, I put my glasses back on, which I'd placed on my side table beside this sot night-lighting lamp. Right after I turn on my laptop. I'd promised my friends back home I'd contact them back as soon as I could through email. I have my phone and texting, but I'd turned it off and took out the battery just to be safe, so that Mom or Karin would't be able to find me.

I log into my email and type my long in as fast as I can. Apparently Denki had sent me, on behalf of himself and Iwabee and Chouchou, a 'Welcome to Japan!' email - apparently sent on the date I left home.

"Aw, haha." That's so sweet, these guys. At least somebody welcomed me. Kinda sad it had to be them, at the same time. After reading their messages of good luck, I start to type my reply and all the action so far since I landed. Tracking down Sasuke and his appearance at the airport, my clumsy screw up, and my miracle fairy god father Naruto.

While typing, I hear a knock on the door. "Come in!" I call, closing my laptop.

Part of me hopes it's Sasuke coming in to at least say goodnight. Instead it's Naruto, holding a small wooden tray of food and a mug of something warm. "Hey kiddo."

"Hi Naruto," I greet, trying to hide my disappointment.

"We normally have dinner around this time in the kitchen, but all the grown ups are kinda busy tonight. We have a meeting in Sasuke's office right now." He settles my tray down on a small short table in the middle of the room. "Didn't want you to go hungry or anything. The maids made pasta tonight. And they made you some tea. They added a small container of sugar and cream on the side."

"Thank you," I smile, half amazed and grateful. "I appreciate it."

"If there's anything you need, don't hesitate to call a maid over if you're craving anything else or some water."

"It's alright, this is perfect."

It's as if he can sense the sadness in my voice, because instead of leaving Naruto pulls up a chair from the desk and sits down on it backwards, facing me. "What's up? Are you doing alright? I'm sorry if we left you alone for a couple hours. I promise it's not this boring around here."

"I'm fine I'm fine, Naruto, honest."

"Is it Sasuke?"

I bite my lip. I wanna tell him, but that's going to be a giant regret if I cave in and spill the beans. "A little. I mean, you know it's like _his_ place and, I feel like he doesn't really want me here. It's a little heavy."

"Aw Sasuke's a softie. Give it a couple days and he'll come around," Naruto assures. My face looks disbelieving. I highly doubt that. After seeing Sasuke now, I can't imagine him in any way fatherly at all. It's almost scary. "Believe me, if you do your job you two are gonna have to make some public appearances eventually. Aw, don't look to nervous. But hey it won't be boring."

Or awkward.

Or assuring.

Or dream-fulfilling, in any way.

"Alright, clearly I'm not helping making you feel any more welcome," Naruto laughs, running his hand through his hair. "Sorry for dragging you into this mess. You know you're free to back out at any time. Don't feel obligated to stay if you don't feel comfortable here in the mansion."

"I feel fine, Naruto," I smile. "I wanna stay. Seriously. And I'm super grateful. I'm just a little tired from the flight and a little in the culture shock, that's all."

He's convinced for now and decides to let things go. "You got it," he agrees.

"Can I ask you something before you go, Naruto?"

"Anything."

"What is Sasuke like?" I ask as softly as possible, almost afraid to ask. "Like, like what was he like when he was younger? If you know? What does he like?"

"Phew, uh, hm. Sasuke," Naruto pauses, rocking back and forth on the chair. "He and I go pretty back. We're best friends."

"Really?"

"Mhm. Even made me his business partner one day and got me a really good job to help support my family. Guy let us live in his home and everything." He sighs, as if reminiscing on earlier days. "He's always been very much about work. Rarely does he give himself downtime."

"No hobbies? No sports?" _Girlfriends...?_

Naruto frowns, looking stumped before he shakes his head no. "Nah, nah not really. He's kind of a jerk when it comes to press actually. Makes most of my downtime consist of trying to repair his mess ups with our clients and partnerships." _Dad... really sounds like an asshole._ "He's pretty much an asshole."

 _Dear god_. "So... how come you almost try to make him sound like a good guy?"

"Because I know deep down he is," Naruto says whole heartedly. "He's always treated me well, for the most part. And Boruto looks up to him a lot." Like asshole, like asshole. "And between you and me, I think you can get under his tough skin and change him a little."

"Really?"

"Guy's never imagined having a daughter, that's for sure," he scoffs. "Things with you around can definitely be interesting. Believe it." A small smile charms up from me, and Naruto takes that in satisfaction. "Well, it's summer. You don't really have a bed-time but, good night. Thank you for staying at Casa de la Uchiha."

"Good night, Naruto," I laugh. He does this overexagerated mock bow and closes the door behind him. At that I let out a breath of relief and fall back into my sheets and pillows. Man, Boruto's so lucky to have such an awesome dad. Is this what it's like, having a male-role-model?

Alright. It's day one, and I've made it a lot farther than I thought I would. Not the way I imagined, but I'm here. Now.

My goal now is to find out what happened between Mom and Dad, why Dad left, and to 'get under his skin' like Naruto said and dig up that legendary soft side he's said to have.

In a way like Naruto, I want to believe Sasuke Uchiha is capable of being a father, even if Sasuke himself doesn't believe it.

I shut off the lights and pull myself under the covers. This does feel pretty luxurious, but after that last good night talk with Naruto, which ended up feeling like more of a pep talk, I feel more... hopeful. More adventurous, and confident.

"I'm not going home until I achieve something," I tell myself. It'd be nice if I really had a solid end-goal. Oh well, I have time to figure it out, and I now how to move forward.

Tomorrow will be the real day one. I'll be alright.

 _Mom, I hope you're doing alright. I miss you so much._

* * *

 _PREVIEW:_

 _"Does Sasuke eat breakfast?"_

 _"Nah," Boruto answers with a full mouth._

 _"He kinda just passes by," Naruto answers a little sympathetically, between bites. "Grabs his plate and goes."_

 _"Oh."_

 _x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x_

 _Boruto sighs, quite aggravated. "Clearly you're gonna need some help to get through tonight's dinner or you won't stand a chance."_

 _"What kind of help?"_

 _"Do you know what utensils are used during the course meals? Do you know how to greet certain people based on their position in the company? Do you know how to waltz?" Boruto eyes me up and down. "And your posture's terrible."_

 _Oh my god._

 _x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x_

 _"Small talk," Shikadai announces as the next lesson. "The main sport of all these events. You've gotta be good at it. You like public speaking?"_

 _"No."_

 _"You popular at school?"_

 _"Not particularly."_

 _"Are you a nerd?" Boruto asks rudely from the side next to Inojin and Mitsuki. I ignore him._

 _x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x_

 _Sasuke... really doesn't want me after all. "Excuse me," I announce in a shaky voice. I drop my utencils over my plate and clumsily back my chair out, almost tripping over my dress as I hastily exit the dining room amidst all the company talk. Luckily the door isn't too far from where I am, so only the head of the table notices my leaving._

 _"Sarada!" Naruto stands and calls, but his son is already up and chasing after her after excusing himself from the table. Naruto looks back at Sasuke and the rather confused businessman next to him. "Nice."_


	3. Dinner Prep Pt1

**Chapter 3: Dinner Prep**

 _ **Sarada has settled into the Uchiha Mansion, which means it's time to introduce the Uchiha charity case to the public. With hosting a banquet in the mansion, Boruto unwillingly (and obligatorily) decides to help Sarada prepare.**_

* * *

Like I said, I can never really sleep well in a bed that is not my bed. It's about 7:30am. I woke up about two hours ago, but I knew I was sleepy so I've just been in bed with my eyes closed, enjoying relaxing in the warmth of my soft cushiony covers.

All destroyed, in seconds.

Boruto slams my door open and throws a really hard pillow at me - hits me right on the head. "Agh!" I react.

"Breakfast in the kitchen," he says all groggy and grumpy. He leaves the door open and just walks away.

I grab my glasses and glare at the spot he once stood. What a rude wake up call to start the day. Sitting up here in this room, I have to remind myself this isn't a dream. Alright, personal goal today: talk to Sasuke. That sounds doable.

In my socks (God I wish I had my slippers) I walk downstairs and try to find the kitchen. Luckily I just have to follow the smell of food. The left entrance in the ballroom leads to a bright black and white grand dining room/kitchen. Hinata is in there, cooking what smells like eggs and bacon and something else. A woman in a maid's uniform serves individual plates to people seated at the table. It's just Naruto and Boruto so far. A place for Hinata. And one for me, as Naruto opens my chair.

"I see Boruto's woken you up," Naruto grins.

"Yeah," I droze out, and Boruto quickly looks away. What a meanie. Nonetheless I sit down, across from the boys. The maid lays a plate for me. Some eggs and bacon and french toast, with a small bowl for me with this textured jam. She then pours me some tea on the side.

"Thank you," I thank as she smiles back and walks away. "Does Sasuke eat breakfast?"

"Nah," Boruto answers with a full mouth.

"He kinda just passes by," Naruto answers a little sympathetically, between bites. "Grabs his plate and goes."

"Oh."

"Hinata." Sasuke's voice enters the kitchen. He's fully dressed in his work clothes: dress pants, shiny shoes and a button down rolled up sleeve shirt. He has a folder open as Hinata hands him a smaller plate. "What's the status with the plans tonight?" he asks.

"In regards to the dinner this evening, the flower orders have been placed and they should arrive around noon. I'll have the ladies decorate the ballroom and the dining room by three."

"What else has to be done?"

Boruto leans over the table in a low whisper. "Mom's in charge of the maids in the house." Ah.

"The guest list has been finalized, and the clothes for your you, Naruto, and Boruto have been picked up," Hinata continues casually. "Though we don't really have anything prepared for Sarada."

"Who?" Sasuke asks. Ouch.

"Your charity-guest?" Hinata reminds with a slight glint in her eye.

I sink a little in my chair as I pick at my food. What a low blow.

"Right," Sasuke remembers, finally noticing me sitting at the breakfast table. I keep my eyes low behind my glasses. So much for all that courage to talk to the guy. _Chouchou would be kicking my ass right now_.

Lucikly Hinata notices the slow tension and fixes it quickly. "Don't worry about it, I'll take the kids shopping after breakfast."

"Wait I have to go too?" Boruto snaps, only to get kicked under the table by his own father.

"Alright," Sasuke says. He comes by the table as Hinata prepares some coffee. "You ready, Naruto?"

"Yeah yeah," Naruto sighs, wiping his mouth and standing up. He grabs Sasuke's shoulder and I hear him whisper, " _At least say hi to her._ "

I can feel Sasuke's glance at me, but I can't see to bring my eyes up. "There's an important dinner we're hosting tonight with other branches of the company," Sasuke says. Is he talking to me? "We'll be introducing you as a guest of our home so behave tonight-" Naruto slaps Sasuke's arm and cuts him off before they go to leave.

"Yow," Boruto watches, chewing on some bacon.

Hinata turns off the stove and coffee machine and comes up behind Boruto's chair. She places her hands on his shoulders. "After you two are done I want you guys to get ready and we'll go do some shopping. And you," she leans over on Boruto's left, "Yes you're coming you need some new shoes."

"Agh moooom," Boruto whines. I have to smile a little. It's a fun sight to see the Uzumakis. Looking out into the ballroom and hearing Naruto lecture Sasuke, it starts sinking in. I'm really nervous. What the hell is a banquet?

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Instead of the limo, Hinata takes us out in a smaller, but still pretty expensive, car. She drives us to this really fancy big mall full of really fancy store brands I've never heard of. The store we end up going to first is the kind of boutique teenagers bring their moms to for prom. Gowns and frills of chiffon everywhere. Boruto and I are a little wowed out and lost.

"Is there anything in particular you'd want, Sarada?" Hinata asks me going through a couple of dresses.

"I-I don't really know," I admit sheepsihly, still in awe of all the beautiful gowns around me. It's like a forest of silk, chiffon and plastic. "What do you wear exactly to an event like this?"

"Hm," Hinata taps her chin thoughtfully. She's a rather beautiful woman, I notice. "How about you let me decide, and you tell me what feels more comfortable for you?" Hearing that I am definitely a lot more enthusiastic now. I nod eagerly and she goes off alone to pick out some chioces while leaving Boruto and I on a fancy velvet couch.

"You're totally commoner," Boruto comments once we're alone.

"What?"

"What kind of girl doesn't know how to dress for a charity dinner?"

"Excuse me for not having a ton of money to throw on clothes," I say rather straightforward to him, earning me a well earned glare back. I never in my life thought I'd ever say such a cheesy line to somebody.

Boruto sighs, leaning back in the couch. "Clearly you're gonna need some help to get through tonight or you won't stand a chance."

"What kind of help?"

"Do you know what utensils are used during the course meals? Do you know how to greet certain people based on their position in the company? Do you know how to waltz?" Boruto eyes me up and down in my seating. "And your posture's terrible."

Resitting the urge to shove him off the couch. _Jerk._ "My posture? You're the one slouching."

Slowly Boruto sits up, not taking his eyes off me. He stands up in front of me, and uses his hands to straighten up my shoulders, my neck, and my head, and then thumps the side of my heads with a snap. "Ow?" I wince, rubbing the hurtful spot.

"Sheesh," Boruto shoves his hands in his pockets. "The way you are now, Sasuke just may kick you out after tonight."

I wanna believe that's a joke. "So... will you help me?" I ask questioningly. Half the time I can't tell if Boruto just thinks I'm pathetic or if he's sarcastically toying with me. Either way I can't stand it.

Boruto looks kinda surprised I'd ask though. After some time, he settles. "Fine," Boruto finally says. "Some of my friends are coming over later anyway before the party. They can help too, I guess."

"You have friends?" I scoff with a teasing smile.

"So four-eyes does have an attitude," he truculently smiles back. "From school. They're all kids of rich parents too so they'll be at the party tonight."

"I thought you didn't like me," I accuse. "Why help me? What's the catch?"

"If every breakfast with Sasuke dropping in has to feel as shallow as this morning, I can only imagine how much more troublesome it'd feel after tonight if you messed anything up. So, for everyone's sake I'll fix you up."

"Thanks," I say sarcastically. But, I do appreciate the offer. Suddenly I'm a whole lot more anxious about this banquet than I thought.

"Here we go," Hinata returns. She's holding three plastic wrapped gowns. They're quite a handful. "Either of these will be fine for tonight. Try them on and let me know which you like best and if they're the right size."

"Okay," I smile, taking the dresses. "Thank you, Hinata."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

After shopping with Boruto and his mom and returning to the mansion, Hinata has the other maids to tend to with decorations, and Naruto and Sasuke are hidden away in their 'private study' as Boruto puts it. That's where they work almost 24/7.

"Come on," Boruto rushes rudely, leading me to his room. It's on the opposite side of the mansion from my bedroom. His door is closed, but he opens it up and it's exactly what I'd expect a boy's room to look like.

He walks in quite casually, but like almost everything I've seen for the past few days, I have to be easily impressed and walk in like I've never seen a boy's room before.

The walls a painted a dimmer bluer color, and it's messy and full of stuff, like games and a gaint TV and music posters and magazines and books. "Nice man-cave," I comment.

He shuts the door behind me and leans against it. "Alright stalker, tonight is a fund raiser for a bunch of rich suits. _You_ , are going to be paraded around to make Sasuke look good. Your job, is to look like you're happy."

I draw my eyebrows down skeptically. "Sounds like experience."

Boruto nods shamelessly. "Yeah," he says halfheartedly. Suddenly there's a small soft sport I have for him. "It's pretty shitty how the adults use kids like that, but hey, at least I get to live here." He looks to me for a second in a short pause. "What's it like? Living where you lived? You know, as a, uh-"

"Commoner?" I finish. He flat smiles. "Hm... It's not as bad as you make it sound. It's, really nice actually." Boruto sits down on the rug in front of his bed where I'm sitting. "It's just my mom and me, and she works away from home a lot. I miss her like all the time."

"That sucks."

"Yeah," I admit. "But her friends usually watch me when she goes away. And I always have a blast, and I always feel loved. Mom would send me postcards sometimes because she'd miss me so much too." Which reminds me of how I should send Karin a post card pretty soon.

"Ah," Boruto says. "I see."

We sit in silence a little together. Even if it's only been a day, I'm starting to piece together small dynamics of the mansion. Like how for Boruto, even if I do think he is a smart ass spoiled brat sometimes, I guess it must be pretty lonely for him in here as the only kid, with so any busy adults.

"Your dad sounds pretty cool though," I speak up, not too comfortable with the silence.

"My Dad's just nice to you for face," Boruto frowns. "All he cares about is the Uchiha Enterprise, too. He's just as much all about the job as Sasuke is. At least Sasuke's an honest asshole. My dad's a fake _and_ a flake."

A flake? I can't imagine Naruto treating Boruto the way he describes, but I suppose every family has their problems.

"Yo Boruto!" someone's voice outside the door yells. Without warning it opens and there's a crowd of boys all of a sudden at the door. They waltz right in and just, stop and stare at me. The ones in the back bump into the one in front.

"A girl," the blonde one says from behind.

"Guys chill out it's just a girl," Boruto glares, sitting up from his seat on the floor. "This is Sarada. She's Sasuke's orphan-Annie guest for a few weeks."

"Would you quit calling me that? I'm not an orphan." _Didn't I just tell him I live with my mom_?

"Anyway," Boruto continues, completely disregarding me. "This is Shikadai, Inojin, and Mitsuki."

"Hey," Inojin nods.

"What's up," Shikadai smiles politely.

"You're rather average looking," Mitsuki blinks, and Shikadai has to elbow him.

Stupid rich kids.

"So uh, you didn't mention you had a girl staying over," Shikadai mentions again. "Are you two like..."

"Dude didn't you hear me? I just said she's Sasuke's charity case. Lay off," Boruto defends with a dude-punch to the arm. "Anyway, I'm supposed to prep her for the banquet tonight."

Mitsuki inspects me up and down from where he stands. I'm feeling kinda weird about him. "She's going to the banquet?" Why do I feel like that's an insult?

Boruto sighs. Not the smartest group of guys. "Just come on. We'll go downstairs. We have a lot to do before six."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

How a group of guys like these are supposed to teach me manners is beyond me, but I'm just going to go along with it. Boruto sounded pretty sincere about helping me.

First we're starting off with food and table manners in the kitchen. I'm sitting at the head of the table, and for the third time Boruto fixes my posture for me out of nowhere. It irks me though whenever he does.

"Okay so uh, how to explain this," Inojin starts. He's set up for me on the table a plate. There's a whole set of utensils and empty dishes and a folded cloth napkin. "Lemme see how you eat."

I stare at the food-less set up, but they're all just waiting on me. "Okay?" I pick up the cloth napkin and put it to the side off the dishes.

"Put it on your lap," Boruto speaks up, and my hand flinches before I can let it go. Oh.

 _I knew that_. Feeling a little dumb I unfold it and straighten it out on my lap under the table, and Boruto fixes my posture again, resulting in an annoyed pout from me.

"Lemme explain at least," Inojin offers. "See these forks on your left? The first is the salad fork, the second is the fish fork, and the last is the meat fork. On your right, from here you have your soup spoon, then your salad knife, your fish knife, and then your meat knife. The ones up here are for dessert."

"Alright," I nod, hoping I'll remember that.

"And never reach over your food to get something. And no tapping on your glass," Inojin adds.

"And stop slouching," Boruto adds, and I just stick my tongue out at him.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Small Talk," Shikadai announces. All of us are in a sitting room, where a big grand piano sits in the middle of the room. "-The main sport of all these events. You've gotta be good at it. You like public speaking?"

"No."

"You popular at school?"

"Not particularly."

"Are you a nerd?" Boruto asks rudely from the side.

"I ignore him." Shikadai scratches his head. He seems more sympathetic to me than all the other guys here right now. "Think of it this way; we're all relatively new to you. Small talk is just very fast and very minimal 'get to know you' talk. Look." He sits on the coffee table in front of where I'm sitting. "Hi."

I nod. "Hello."

"How are you enjoying the mansion?"

"Uh..." I'm blanking out.

Shikadai frowns. "At least lie and say 'good'."

"Good?"

Inojin lays sideways on another couch. "She's doomed."

"I know," Boruto agrees, watching Shikadai and me.

"I think she's interesting," Mitsuki admits with a clean smile. "She has very positive energy around her."

"Positive energy, huh?" Boruto doubts, watching me practically fail at fake small talk with Shikadai.

"Any hobbies?" Shikadai tries one more time.

"U-Uh, studying?"

The other two guys, except for Mitsuki, groan and slouch against the couch.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Naruto passes by Hinata at the top of the railing on the second floor. Despite her overlooking decorations, he sees her watching something below in the ballroom. "What're you up to?" he asks during his break.

"It's not what I'm up to," she grins, notioning her head downstairs.

Naruto peers over below - His son, his friends, and me with a ton of books.

The guys have me in heels they had one of the maids in the house fetch for them. Putting me in the shoes, and with Boruto definitely done with my horrid posture, he's put a textbook on top of my head to keep my neck straight and my chin up - all while practicing ballroom dancing.

"Are you guys seriously gonna have waltzing at this party?" I ask doubtfully, trying to remain in some ungraceful balance with this book.

"Never know. But at least know the box after this," Boruto notes, with the other guys sitting on the base of the marble stairs to watch.

"What's 'the box'?" I ask, trying to maintain my balance.

"A dance," Boruto responds. "Mitsuki c'mon."

The pale teen stands and comes up under my arms, having me assume a quick dancing pose with him. His hands holding my waist and hand a fair distance without it being too awkward. "Now put your other hand on my shoulder," Mitsuki says rather soothingly. "There, you got it."

Shikadai puts on some waltz music on his phone, and Mitsuki starts leading me in a simple, well, box motion. It's rather graceful, the way he leads. "Oh wow." It's a lot easier than I thought it'd be.

"The waltz is more complex than this," Boruto notes as Mitsuki and I practice. "But you get the jist."

"And you're keeping the book on your head," Mitsuki also points out, building my confidence. "You will make a fine lady one day."

"Why thank you, Mitsuki."

"For a wrestling star," Boruto mutters. My instinct is to deck him but Mitsuki holds my form tighter to keep my stance so I don't drop the book.

"You have Boruto's attention," Mitsuki whispers to me in our waltz practice. "I've never seen him attracted to a girl before."

I scrunch up my face, not exactly knowing how to respond to something as straightforward as that. "I don't think so," I manage out, almost losing balance. "He's just trying to help me so I can get out of this faster."

"Wow," Naruto says from above, quite impressed upstairs with his wife.

"Yeah," Hinata says, leaning her head against her husband's shoulder. "I've never seen Boruto open up like this."

" _Why don't you try dancing with a book on your head_!"

" _I'm not the one who has to shave their legs for the party_."

Thwack!

Naruto chuckles, feeling quite fluttery himself. The Uchiha Mansion, despite it's homely appearance, rarely has the warmth of an actual family vibe. Moments like the one he sees now downstairs are quite rare.

"Things are gonna change around here, Naruto," Hinata prays. "Whatever you did, you picked a good one."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

After all the lessons and arguing and laughter, Boruto finally let me go to get ready for the party. The guys too would be getting ready over in Boruto's room. It's nice to know there were at least going to be other kids my age at this thing. And we'd bonded pretty well, too, by the end of it all.

Shikadai must be the patient one who holds everyone together. Mitsuki's a little off, but definitely a gentleman when he wants to be - if not a little eccentric. As for Inojin, he's definitely a nice guy, but also very honest and off-putting sometimes, kind of like Boruto. Nonetheless they're all a really good group of guys.

Hinata told me to just shower up and she'll help me get dressed and do my make up for me. Mom's never let me have make up before - she'd said she never wanted me to rely on it to feel pretty. I can agree with that I suppose, but I have to admit I'm a little excited to dress like a princess, even for just tonight. It'll be definitely interesting.

I'm also trying to keep my focus on the dress-up excitement, because when I think about Sasuke, a pit in my stomach drops and ruins the whole experience for me.

After another shower in the world's most beautiful bathroom, I automatically return to my bed in my third pair of clothes (gotta do my laundry) and open my laptop to check my emails from my friends.

When I emailed them last night, I'd just told them I landed in Japan and found Sasuke. I didn't exactly get to elaborate on all that's happened. Denki's next email was written mostly by Chouchou.

" _Hi Sarada_ ," I read lowly as I put my glasses back on. " _How's Japan? Did you get to find your dad? Is it everything you've ever dreamed? Is he taking you to nice cafes and buying you nice clothes_?"

There's more, but when I try to reply, I can't bring myself to type up the truth - that Sasuke's a jerk who doesn't really want anything to do with me. But I know I can't ignore them or dodge the truth forever, so figuring I won't be able to do it later I try to make a reply now.

"Hm..." I frown, hating the idea of lying to my friends.

I start typing up a short reply about how I'm living in the Uchiha Mansion temporarily, and how awesome my dad is. Stern, but compassionate. Intimidating, but charming towards me. Stuff along those lines. It hurts lying, because I sincerely wish that my dad was... like this email.

"This is bumming me out," I say to myself as I contemplate hitting send.

After deciding to hold it off and just save it as a draft, I get up to return to the bathroom after I figure air drying my hair won't cut it tonight. Once I disappear into the bathroom, right after, my main door opens up. It's Boruto.

"Yo stalker," he calls in casually, not seeing any sign of the girl. "Sarada?"

He walks in, looking around for maybe some weird hiding spot. He spots my laptop on the bed facing him, and he happens to catch a glance of the email file typed up on screen.

" _Living somewhere really nice_... _Annoying kid Boruto_..." A vein pops on the side of the kid's head. " _But I found him. He and I are spending a lot of time together. He's strict but kind, intimidating, but charming to me. We go out to this cafe every night-_ What the hell?" Boruto's dumbstruck, and hears the hair dryer from the bathroom. "Oh, that's where she is," he says in relief.

But after reading the email accidentally, his brain feels scattered. _Who the hell did she find? Did she come all the way out here for a guy? And when does she find the time to go to a cafe at night?_

Once I'm done, I exit the bathroom and notice Boruto in the room, all dressed up already. He's wearing a clean suit, or tux. Whatever it is, he cleaned up surprisingly good. "That's what you're wearing?"

"Spiffy, huh?"

"Sure," I humor, not giving him the satisfaction. "What's up?"

"My mom asked me to bring you to her room to get ready."

"Oh. Okay then." I put on some socks before I leave the room, to which I can see Boruto giving me a look. "I don't like walking barefoot okay?" I shut off my laptop and we exit the room.

On our way out, we see Sasuke passing by and I stiffen up.

Boruto notices my sudden demeanor and instinctively stops and says, "Hi Uncle Sasuke!"

"Hey," Sasuke manages out, still looking at a clipboard.

"Do I look alright for tonight?"

"You look fine."

"I'm about to go give Sarada to my Mom to get ready," he continues energetically. What's he doing? "She's gonna look great with this dress Mom bought earlier, don't you think?"

Sasuke glances at me, and I shyly look away. Why can't I look him in the eye? "You know you'll have to do better than that at the party," Sasuke says to me, and I automatically look up at him. Is he lecturing me? "You're gonna have to look happy at least. Don't look so frigid around me."

"Well maybe she would if you'd stop treating her like a stone wall, Uncle Sasuke," Boruto says in a casual manner, but there's a tone that makes him sound serious too. "Besides Sarada's been wanting to say something to you, right?" he elbows me.

"Y-yeah! Uh..." _BORUTO_. "Um, thank you for letting me stay in your home! I'm very grateful," I thank.

At first Sasuke doesn't say anything, but I hear him come up to me. Instinctively I lower my head, half out of respect and half out of intimidation. With his hand he picks up my head. "You don't have to bow your head to me right now, especially not in front of the guests." _Another lecture...?_ "... Are you enjoying your stay?"

"Yeah, I am."

"Good," Sasuke replies, back to his emotionless state. He turns back around and says nothing more, walking away and downstairs.

Boruto and I remain quiet for a while until Sasuke's out of hearing range. Did all that seriously just happen? "Thanks for standing up to him for me," I thank quietly.

"Eh, Sasuke's been a bit of a jerk to you. It's a little messed up," Boruto shrugs, also reveling in the shock like I am that we somehow just stood up to _the_ Sasuke Uchiha. But Boruto gathers himself pretty fast. "Now hurry up. My mom's gonna be pissed at me if we take much longer."

* * *

 _PREVIEW:_

 _"_ _"I've never seen anything this... grand before," I whisper nervously from behind a door._

 _"You'll be fine," Hinata assures with a gentle nudge, and before I know it I'm out on the floor._

 _x-x-x-x-x-x_

 _"Excuse me," I announce in a shaky voice. I drop my utensils over my plate and clumsily back my chair out as I hastily exit the dining room. Luckily the door isn't too far from where I am, so only the head of the table notices my leaving._

 _"Sarada!" Naruto calls, but his son is already up and chasing after excusing himself from the table._

 _x-x-x-x-x-x_

 _"You really don't get it," I glare. "If you want me out of your hair then I have no problem checking into a hotel-"_

 _"No don't do that, agh." Sasuke breathes in and out before he can blow up. I bet he has anger issues, too. "I'm not leaving here until you open up to me."_

 _"You can't just force someone to open up."_

 _"I'm not leaving," Sasuke threatens. Ironic._


	4. Dinner Prep Pt2

**Chapter 4: DINNER PREP**

 ** _Sarada has settled into the Uchiha Mansion, which means it's time to introduce the Uchiha charity case to the public. With hosting a banquet in the mansion, Boruto unwillingly (and obligatorily) decides to help Sarada prepare._**

* * *

I take one last look at myself in the mirror, smoothing out the bell-shape of my gown. Even with Mom's job as a fashion designer, I've never worn anything this nice before. I must admit though, having Hinata help me get ready reminded me of Mom a lot.

 _I wonder if she'd be proud of me_. Despite knowing she'd ground me.

As I look at myself in such radiance, I'm missing my glasses, and for a moment it reminds me of how I used to look with contacts and longer hair - how short a time ago that was. So much as happened since leaving home.

Hinata comes up behind me, with her gentle hands landing over my shoulders. "You look wonderful, Sarada."

To finish the look, I put my glasses on. Deep breaths Sarada.

Within the hour after getting ready, the charity event everyone's been talking about has begun downstairs. All the guests are in the main ballroom, mingling around as music plays in the background. Formal wear all around. Rich business owners, company heads, reps from charities, heirs and minimal kids. It's almost like a wedding reception.

"I've never seen anything this... grand before," I whisper nervously from behind a door.

"You'll be fine," Hinata assures with a gentle nudge, and before I know it I'm out on the floor in light.

Hinata had picked a lavender and silver chiffon gown, and a pretty hair clip to match up in my hair. The only thing I'd asked was to keep my glasses on over the minimal make up she put on. But now I'm starting to wonder if I look stupid with them on.

Elsewhere in the room, the hosts of the party are in a circle with a few other men in suits.

"So word is you actually took on a child to stay at the mansion over the summer," a quite wealthier man laughs while in conversation with Sasuke and Naruto.

"Yeah. She's a real kepeper," Naruto adds.

"A girl?" one of the other men boast. "What a shocker. Never took you as the father-daughter type, Uchiha, haha!"

"We're quite fond of her," Sasuke acts, showing a polite charming smile.

Meanwhile I start walking through the crowd, not exactly sure what I'm looking for, or who. But through the wandering I can hear comments from a few of the kids of the rich.

 _"Ew who's that?"_

 _"She looks so awkward."_

 _"I heard she's the girl staying at the Mansion with Sasuke."_

 _"That's no fair."_

 _"She isn't even that pretty."_

Normally I don't let comments from kids like that get to me, even in school. But here, I feel like a stick out. A lot. Suddenly the term commoner doesn't seem all that far fetched anymore. Through the crowd I'm wading through, suddenly a pale familiar face shows through. "Miss Sarada," Mitsuki bows politely in front of the kids making snarky comments. "I was just looking for you." He offers his arm to rescue me. "Shall we?"

"Why thank you," I blush in gratitude. I don't dare look back at the kids glaring at my head as we walk away. " _Thanks for the save_."

"They're just envious of you for being the prized Uchiha guest," Mitsuki whispers back, my arm escorted by his. "Boruto and the others have been looking for you."

Eventually Mitsuki leads me into a clearing of the ballroom where the guys all are. All suited up, just like Boruto.

"Hey Mitsuki found her," Inojin says, and the other guys turn to look. I feel a little shy and ridiculous in such a get up like this, especially with all their stares. "Wow Sarada, you look really pretty."

"Yeah," Shikadai agrees, all of them walking up. "Hinata did a really good job with you."

"You sure I don't look weird?" I smile nervously.

"No different than the other bimbo women around here," Mitsuki points out as a woman with way too much make up passes impolitely through our group. How rude. "And the pauper becomes a princess."

I can't help but laugh. The attention is pretty nice. "Thanks guys." It's only Boruto who hasn't said anything. He'll be straightforward with me on how I look at least.

As if expecting so, Shikadai elbows Boruto. "You look nice," Boruto finally mutters. What a drama queen.

"Thank you," I grin in satisfaction. "You guys all clean up pretty well, too."

"Your posture still sucks," Boruto pouts, and I just roll my eyes.

"Hey kids," Naruto comes through. We all glance up at the man. "Hi Sarada. Would you mind coming with me and Sasuke for a while as we greet guests?"

"Of course." Naruto leads me away as the guys continue their small talk amongst one another, though Boruto remains oddly quiet.

He watches me disappear through the crowds after his father. _Is she gonna be alright?_

Eventually the sound of laughing men grows louder, and across the ballroom I meet up with Sasuke and a bunch of other adults. Naruto inserts us innto the circle beside Sasuke.

"Oh this must be her," one of the women greet.

"Hello," I smile.

"Sasuke she's such a sweetheart," she adores.

"This is Sarada," Sasuke introduces, standing beside me with a wine glass. "We've been spending quite a lot of time together." _He's lying_? "She works with me on my office some hours of the day."

"Oh how cute."

I know I don't really have to say anything or act - just stand here next to Sasuke like an accessory. I was ready for the emotional toll of that, but I wasn't ready to hear Sasuke make up lies about how happy we are to the people. Somehow, it pangs something deep in my chest. Hard. It makes me want to cry, but I hold it in the entire evening.

Many other greetings go on like this, with Sasuke introducing me to other company heads and charity ambassadors.

Not too far away, Boruto watches from the sidelines, listening on on Sasuke's act. It wasn't anything surprising the adults haven't done before for the sake of the company. Boruto's been in the same shoes before. But somehow, there was something sad in the show he saw.

 _Does Sarada look actually sad_? "Why is she so attached to Sasuke anyway?" Boruto mutters. Sasuke's quite the ladies' man, and easily attracts the attention of females of all ages. And as much as Boruto teased me, he knew I wasn't really a fangirl or stalker.

"What're you doing?" Shikadai asks, coming up beside Boruto with some punch. The blond points his head towards Sasuke and me and a few other suits. "Ah," Shikadai sees, also seeing the routine kid-display act.

"I'll be taking her horseback riding over the weekend by the stables."

"Oh how lovely."

Makes me wonder if that's a lie too. Probably.

Soon enough, an announcement is made that dinner is served. All guests congregate in an entirely different dining room. One much larger enough to fit the capacity of people we have.

Sasuke and the Uzumakis are seated with me at the head of the table, a few lucky guests able to sit close enough to conversate with the adults. Shikadai, Inojin, and mitsuki are probably seated further down the table with their families.

Boruto and I as the kids of the host family have remained quiet while Hinata, Naruto, and Sasuke did all the talking. I wish it was boring.

"Are you planning on adopting the girl at the end of summer, Sasuke?" an old gentlemen asks as we eat through second course.

"Oh no not at all," Sasuke replies with a drink of water.

 _What...?_

Hearing that my heart shatters, and my fork misses whatever it was supposed to pick up off my plate.

Boruto glances up too.

"But why not? Just look at her. She looks smart, and her adaption to our blue blood society is almost seamless," he compliments with an old age chuckle. "Why, I could barely memorize what utensils were for what until I was sixteen, haha! She's a fast learner!"

A couple other old geezers laugh, but Sasuke eventually continues, "She comes from the U.S. I'm sure after her return there she'll find a better suited family back in the states. But I'm doing my best to make sure she enjoys her stay here in Japan."

I don't hear whatever comes after that. It's all just blocked out. My glasses are starting to fog up I can tell. _He really doesn't want me after all._ "Excuse me," I announce in a shaky voice. I drop my utencils over my plate and clumsily back my chair out, almost tripping over my dress as I hastily exit the dining room. I seriously thought I could change anything by coming all the way out here.

Luckily the door isn't too far from where I am, so only the head of the table notices my leaving.

"Sarada!" Naruto stands and calls, but his son is already up and chasing after her after excusing himself from the table.

I pass through the ballroom, holding the hem of my dress up the staircase. The sobs are starting to come out and I almost trip halfway up the stairs. I've almost memorized where my room is. I dash in and slam the door, jumping into my bed and letting out the tears. I rub my eyes under my glasses, sniffling in short cries. "This was a horrible idea. I can't believe I thought-" I hiccup, and just continue to sob.

"Sarada?" Boruto's hesitant voice says outside. A few seconds later, he slowly opens the door and peeks his head in before coming in. "Sarada you're crying."

"No shit, sherlock," I sob out from bed, trying hard to dry my eyes. I don't want him to see me like this.

"Hey hey," he tries in a soothing voice. Clearly he's never dealt with a crying girl before by the panicked look on his face. "You were doing great. What happened down there?" He takes a deep breath. "Alright, clearly all the mannerisms and etiquette aren't what's bothering you."

"I don't want to talk about it."

"It's Sasuke, right?" Boruto says. "He's just a jerk. Why do you care what he thinks, anyway?"

I try to gather myself and steady my breathing. This is so immature, Sarada. "Sasuke," I breath out a decent lie. "I just feel like he really doesn't want me here. That's all."

"It's not that he hates you."

"He isnt exacty fond of me, either." Boruto can't even answer me. "What's the use of staying if he doesn't like me?"

A knock from the outside. "Hello?" Surprisingly enough, instead of Naruto, it's actually Sasuke peeking through the door. I clear my eyes up and Boruto backs up so Sasuke can come in. He glances at the scene before him, and bites his lip, wondering if this was a good idea. "Do you mind if I talk privately with Sarada, Boruto?" he asks.

"S-Sure," Boruto obeys, giving me one last look before leaving and shutting the door behind him. Sasuke stays by it, with me a few feet away sitting up on the bed. The distance seems intentional. I don't think I'd feel any more comforted if he came closer.

"So," I start, seeing as he isn't gonna say anything first. "What're you doing here?"

"Well you ran out of there pretty fast. And here you are, crying." He pauses. "Should I not be here?"

"Shouldn't you be downstairs talking up your guests?"

"That's what Naruto's for," Sasuke tries to humor, but I'm not laughing. Trying not to get frustrated, Sasuke walks forward and notions me to move aside so he can sit on the bed too. He looks around. "Is this the room Hinata gave you?"

"Yeah."

He notices my lone empty lugage and my delivered laundry folded ontop of the dresser. Very short pile. Two pants and three shirts. "You didn't exactly pack a lot."

"I travel light," I say low, not looking at him. Part of me kind of wants him to leave. Naruto probably forced him to come up here to check on me.

But, even if it is wishful thinking, I can tell he's trying. Probably only because there'll be hell to pay with the other house residents if he didn't even try. "Sometimes..." he starts awkwardly, "it's easier to talk about things with strangers, you know?" He leans his elbows over his lap. "You and I don't really know each other, so I won't judge you if you tell me what's going on."

I look at him to see if he's being sincere. He's been a very good actor so far. "You don't really care," I glint through my glasses. "You won't care about what bothers me as long as I stop crying. And I have, so you can go. I'll tell Naruto we talked and worked it out. Win win."

"Look I'm trying, okay?" Sasuke urges. "What do you want me to do? Buy you more clothes? Hire a special nanny?"

"You really don't get it," I glare. "If you want me out of your hair then I have no problem checking into a hotel-"

"No don't do that, agh." _Why are kids so frustrating_. Sasuke breathes in and out before he can blow up. I bet he has anger issues, too. "I'm not leaving here until you open up to me."

"You can't just force someone to open up."

"I'm not leaving," Sasuke threatens. Ironic.

Suddenly we're eye to eye in a glaring stare off. Then I wonder, did he just leave Mom? The thought makes me want to cry. We're face to face, and the sad thought makes me turn away first. "... I just, really miss my family. That's all."

Sasuke tries to sympathize. "Back overseas?"

I nod. "Mhm. We're a little... broken," I say as vaguely as possible. "I feel like I can't keep us all together sometimes... I wonder how they're doing without me." Mom hates leaving me at home alone. Karin must be losing her mind. And now, I know my dad is the biggest jerk in the world. Broken is an understatement. "As the daughter, it all kind of makes you feel like an emotional burden after a while." I wipe my eye. "I feel like a screw up."

Sasuke's kind of just, listening.

"I don't expect you to say anything," I end, taking my hair clip out of my probably messed up short hair. "And I don't expect you to be some expert at taking care of kids either."

"You know," Sasuke starts. "The idea of a family in general always freaked me out."

Is, Sasuke actually opening up to me? "Really."

"Oh yeah," Sasuke nods. "My folks and I didn't have the best relationship either, so I get it. For us, it was always about the business." Oh, right. Must've been, being Uchihas and all. "After seeing how my family dysfunction went, for me now as a full grown adult, I just can't see myself as a family man like Naruto."

"You never considered settling down and having a family?" I ask, indirectly trying to weasel out information. Part of me is afraid of the answer.

Sasuke just shrugs. "I don't like imagining it. Taking care of people isn't one of my strong points." I can tell.

My thumbs twiddle between my hands. "Boruto looks up to you, you know."

"That's fine. He's not my kid," Sasuke scoffs. I guess that makes sense. "My point is, whatever the situation is between you and your folks, I can assure you, you're not the one at fault, kid."

"You don't know anything about me or my situation."

"I know enough to say that you deserve better then," he ends. That answer surprises me. "And, I think if you give me and this place a second chance, maybe you'll be able to figure it out for yourself, too."

"You're really okay with me staying?" i ask. "You want me to stay?"

"Can't exactly kick you out. The press would have my head." What a jackass. But, his odd charming Sasuke-smile makes me half believe it could be a joke.

"I'll stay," I give in, "But can I say something?" He notions, and I hessitate. "... I think you could take care of people if you tried." That was pretty hard to muster up. "Your acting's pretty good, but saying all that stuff sincerely feels a lot better than faking it."

"You don't think what I'm saying is sincere?"

"I think this is the first time you're ever trying," I spit back.

This is kind of nice actually, despite the witty banter type of atmosphere we have going on. Maybe not as father and daughter but, this is my first real talk with my dad. We're kind of actually, opening up.

He does a soft chuckle and a 'hn'. "Smart ass. I'll try my best to do better if you do," Sasuke bargains. "You've been keeping Boruto out of my hair a lot more that's for sure. Can't toss out someone that useful."

He makes me laugh, and, is Sasuke actually smiling? "Deal."

"Good." He stands up. "You don't have to come back down if you're tired. Good job today."

Sasuke leaves it at that and before he can make it through the door, I gather the courage. "Good night!" He looks a little surprised, like he's never heard that before. Sasuke looks back at me, and I think I'm right. "Now say it back to me," I smile sympathetically.

"You must think I'm stupid," Sasuke laughs with an eye roll. At least he's smart. "Good night," he finally says to me. When he leaves, he keeps the door open so Boruto can peek back in.

The blond spots me back in my bed, tears dry and actually smiling. "No way," Boruto says suspiciously.

"Yes way," I nod, a little surprised myself. "We actually talked it out."

"Yeah I know. I tried eavesdropping in but I couldn't hear shit," Boruto laughs, making me laugh too. "But things look good. Are _you_ good?"

"Yeah. I am, now," I nod. "I'm gonna go to bed early. Say bye to the guys for me?"

"Sure thing."

"And Boruto?"

He peeks back in. "Yeah?"

"Thanks for all the help so far. You're not that bad."

Boruto shys his head back away before his face can turn too warm. "Whatever. You're still a mooching stalker. Don't get the wrong idea." With roll of my eyes Boruto shuts the door.

Finally left alone I can finally revel in how I have SUCCESSFULLY accomplished day two goals: talk to Sasuke. Oh my god I actually did it. Sasuke and I totally had a father-daughter moment.

I fall back into my bed, still in the gown. There's a high in my chest and I feel so elated now. I still have to wash my face and everything and change. Ugh. I want to just go to sleep like this since I'm so tired. But, what I do manage to get myself to do is pull out a packet of post cards I'd gotten from the airport yesterday and start writing to Karin, to let her know I'm at least alright.

"Things are going to be alright," I tell myself as I write my assurances to Karin. Mom always told me that. It's probably gonna be like a mantra as the days go on. Tomorrow will be an even better and more forward day. "Sasuke wants me to stay."

* * *

 **Thank you guys for all the positive reviews so far! I appreciate them so much! And I am working on the character development - I'm sorry if Boruto sounds a little too bratty to some readers, and if Sasuke sounds too much like an asshole as well. I'm planning on evolving these relationship over the story, and I hope you enjoy the journey! But I really do appreciate your comments!**

 **I'll work on updating more often as well! Between my work and freelance, it's a little harder to get back to writing on my computer. But it makes it all the more enjoyable when I do! Thank you again for reading!**

 _PREVIEW:_

 _"I don't understand why we couldn't just fly her over for the weekend!"_

 _"Boruto you know why."_

 _"No I don't! C'mon Dad I haven't seen Himawari in like forever! Do you seriously expect for me to pretend like she's not a part of this family?!-"_

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 _"It's Boruto's birthday today, you know," Naruto speaks up._

 _"What?" I didn't know that._

 _"You have any plans?" Sasuke asks tiredly._

 _"Not really. I have meetings in town for the new project."_

 _x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x_

 _"I just need to get him out of the house for a little while. Can I have a little allowance at least?"_

 _"Allowance?" Sasuke asks irrediculously._

 _"Yeah," I say. By the look on his face I wonder if I sound stupid. Did I overstep my boundaries? "Or, not."_

 _Sasuke rolls his eyes and I think starts looking for whatever cash is on him._

 _"Can I use the mansion to throw a small party later?" Another accusational glance from Sasuke._


	5. Operation: Birthday Pt1

**Chapter 5: OPERATION BIRTHDAY**

 ** _It's Boruto's birthday, but there a happens to be some tension in the mansion between him and his father Naruto. With some unwilling help from Sasuke, Sarada takes it upon herself to try and fix it, alongside some of Boruto's friends._**

* * *

It's super early in the morning. About 4:30 am to be exact.

Hinata Hyuuga peaks her head into her son's bedroom, a small ray of light opening down the room to where her son sleeps.

As quietly as she can muster, she glides over to his bedside and kneels down. She runs his gentle hand through his hair and out of his forehead and face enough to give him a quick kiss. "Happy Birthday Boruto," Hinata whispers quietly, as to not wake him.

Content, the woman stands back up and hurries to leave as quietly as possible.

"Good luck at your conference... ," mumbles Boruto, rolling over. The light from the door makes him not want to open his eyes, but words are enough, as drowned out as they were. Hinata looks back, surprised he's awake. Another yawn. "Have -yawn- have a safe flight, mom..." Boruto adds groggily, pulling up his covers more.

Hinata can't help but smile and blow a kiss to her son before leaving and shutting the door. Boruto falls right back asleep soon after.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Alright, so I've been living in the Uchiha mansion for about a week now. And it is finally starting to feel like a home somehow. Slowly but surely Sasuke's been opening up a bit more, in his own Sasuke-ways.

Like, when he helped me and Hinata carry shopping bags up to my room - after Hinata realized I'd been living on only three pairs of clothes.

Or when I fell out on the yard while Boruto and his friends were teaching me soccer, and Sasuke was the one who voluntarily carried me inside and took care of my scrape instead of a maid.

And when - get this - when Sasuke picked me up a souvineer from one of his overnight business trips - it was a little hair pin, a sakura hair pin. I lit up inside sooo much when I got it. Of course he made it seem like it was just a small pick up gift, but the fact that it was sakura-themed sparked a small light in me. And, it was my dad's first gift to me, too...

Anywho, it's morning now, and I've gotten used to waking up at seven; particularly due to Boruto usually waking me up by throwing some object at me in bed. He didn't this morning, which I found incredibly odd. I sit up and put my glasses on, taking in this peaceful yet errie silence. "Maybe he's still asleep."

Either way I put on my socks and head down for breakfast. Only then do I realize it's relatively early, but still by now someone would be making breakfast. Instead the lights are off in the kitchen, and it' s just natural sunrise slight. There's no one else here.

One more glance around. "Did everyone leave or something?"

"Nope."

Behind a small wall where the counter is, I see a sleepy Sasuke making coffee. He's in more casual-than-normal clothes this morning. "Sasuke." I've... never seen him in sweatpants before. It's, kind of weird.

"Sundays everyone usually sleeps in and makes their own breakfast."

"Oh." What a surprising weekly routine. That's nice though. Sunday must be everyone's day off. "Are you not working today?"

"I am," he assures, drinking his cup. "Naruto works too whenever he gets up." Just in time we hear some muffled yelling or argueing from another room. Actually out in the ballroom towards under the staircase.

"It sounds like Boruto and Naruto," I blink groggily.

I walk more towards the exit of the kitchen to make sure. I don't see anybody, but I can still hear those two for sure. "Even this early they're annoying," Sasuke comments, rubbing his temples as he sits at the counter with his cup. I've never seen him this lax and tired before.

"I don't understand why we couldn't just fly her over for the weekend!"

"Boruto you know why."

"No I don't! C'mon Dad I haven't seen Himawari in like forever! Do you seriously expect for me to pretend like she's not a part of this family?!-"

The echo of a slap emits, and I gasp a little. It's silent. Who's Himawari, I ask myself. Is that someone in the house? Or in Boruto's family? But more importantly, are those two alright out there?

"Evesdropping's wrong," Sasuke comments in the distance. That startles me.

"I don't want to be lectured about right and wrong from you," I say with a face back at him. Sasuke 'hn's' with a small chuckle. The rest of what Naruto and Boruto yell becomes kind of muffled, but it doesn't sound like it ends well.

"I don't have time for this Boruto. I have work to do."

"Fine!"

Footsteps running up the stairs, and a heavy sigh from Naruto as I hear his footsteps coming out and towards the kitchen. I gasp, and dash over to the counter next to Sasuke before Naruto can catch me evesdropping. I slide into the seat at the counter by Sasuke, who casually passes me a mug of coffee.

Naruto walks in to the kitchen more tired and stressed than I've ever seen him. He looks startled to see us. Sasuke holds up the coffee pot and Naruto sighs. "You guys overheard all that?"

"Cream?" Sasuke asks. The blond pulls up a stool on the other side of the counter across us.

"No thanks. Black's fine," Naruto waves off, and we're all sitting at the counter together. Sasuke starts pouring a cup. I don't particularly like coffee, so I just sit politely and quietly among the two adults. Such an awkward situation. "It's Boruto's birthday today, you know," Naruto speaks up.

"What?" I didn't know that.

"You have any plans?" Sasuke asks tiredly.

"Not really. I have meetings in town for the new project."

"Well yeah but that's just-"

"I'm uh, gonna go check on Boruto." Excusing myself before the two adults can get too into their conversation, I push in my stool and run out of the kitchen. It was a little hard to look at Naruto this morning. And Sasuke, despite him being a little nicer than my first day here, things between us are still a little rocky.

"You, sir," Sasuke sips, once I'm gone, "make me happy I'm not a father."

Naruto groans and bangs his head on the counter in his arms.

I didn't find Boruto by the staircase, so I go up to check his room. The door is shut, so I knock. "It's me," I say softly as I check if it's open. Looking in, I see Boruto sitting in one of his beanbag chairs, heavily focused on one of his video games. He's not gonna start ignoring me now, is he? "Hey," I say.

"Hey," he says healf-heartedly, eyes on his game. "Heard it's your birthday today. Just, wanted to say Happy Birthday."

"Thanks," he answers half heartedly.

I pull my entire body into the room and close the door behind me. Part of me feels unwelcome, but it felt wrong leaving Boruto here like this. "Um, any plans today?"

"Not really."

"Not even with your dad-?"

"He's too busy for stuff like this," Boruto answers before I can go on. "He'll just blow me off again. And my mom's off on a business trip."

Despite this morning, I couldn't imagine Naruto completely ignoring his son's birthday. At the same time, after seeing how the man was last I left him, and how surprisingly more likeable Sasuke was in comparison this morning, it made me slightly mad.

I narrow my eyes and push my glasses up a litte. Guess there's a lot more about this family I don't know yet. Maybe I'm not supposed to know either.

Boruto's eyes dart up at me by the door then back down to his game. "If you don't mind I'd like to be alone."

"O-Oh. Sure."

I don't know what I was thinking by coming up here. The guy doesn't really like me very much, so expecting myself to run up and make him feel better probably wasn't very realistic. Without Hinata in the house, and all these drama-queen men, it makes me realize too how depressing things must get around here sometimes.

There's only one thing to do.

Once back in my room, I crack open some paper from the drawer and a pen.

A checklist. For a good standard birthday.

Number one: presents. They've gotta be personal, by which I mean you need to really think about the person you're shopping or making something for. Number two: the cake. Anyone can buy one, especially in this household I guess, but it means so much more when you make it. Mom and I always make our birthday cakes. Most come out pretty bad than good in my experience, but it's just part of how our family works. Number three: the element of surprise. Nothing makes someone happier and more cared about than a successfully well planned surprise. Number four: (last but not least) the birthday song over a birthday candle. Just a spice of tradition.

All this stuff just came so naturally. It's almost strategic, looking at it all on paper. I figured everyone's birthdays ran along the lines of something like this. I never thought anyone else could do otherwise, or less.

Of course the Uchiha Mansion never fails to surprise, or deliver. "This'll do."

Taking the list, I storm downstairs into Sasuke's office. Or the front of it anyway. I've never been in here before. Before I can hessitate, becuase I know I will, I burst the doors open, surprising Sasuke at his desk. Luckily Naruto isn't here.

"Alright," Sasuke glares. "Clearly I knock. You should learn to do so to."

"I need to talk to you before Naruto comes in here," I say, shutting the doors behind me and walking up to his desk. I realize how dreary and proffesionally dull everything looks in here. "Uh, nice office."

"Sarada what do you want," Sasuke exasperates with a finger to his temple.

"I wanna make sure Boruto has a good birthday." I lay the list on his desk, hoping it's at least a little self explanatory. "I just need to get him out of the house for a little while. Can I have a little allowance at least?"

"Allowance?" he arches his brow.

"Yeah allowance. You know, money parents give to thier kids every week for lunch and stuff like that," I explain. By the look on his face I wonder if I sound stupid. DId I overstep my boundaries? "Or, not."

Sasuke rolls his eyes and I think starts looking for whatever cash is on him.

"Can I use the mansion to throw a small party later?" Another accusational glance from Sasuke. Maybe I am pushing it. "I-It's just me and the other kids from the banquet. Nothing big."

"Fine." He pulls out a single bill and holds it out to me across his desk. My eyes widen and I wonder if I'm supposed to take a bill that huge, but he intterupts me. "I don't have change. Just take it and go."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Seriously?" Shikadai yawns. "How'd you get my number anyway?"

"Not important. You think it's possible?" I whisper, from inside my bathroom for ultimate privacy. There was a landline phone one of the maids let me borrow. I'm seated on top of the closed toilet, my one leg twitching along the call.

"Mnm... sure. Why not. But it's still pretty early. It'll take me a few hours to get the guys up and ready."

"That's fine. I have a few things to do first anyhow."

"We'll meet you then after I gather up the boys."

"Thanks, Shikadai," I smile before hanging up. I breathe out a sigh of relief. I have to admit I was a little nervous about making the call. Boruto's friends don't really know me that well, and I would've hated to have woken them up.

And of all numbers I had to have gotten, it had to be Shikadai's. Apparently he sleeps till noon on weekends. I apologized profusely at first after he answered.

But my plan's going accordingly. Next up, getting the birthday boy out of his grouchy mood. No matter what the plan with the guys turns into, it'll be no use if Boruto stays in a mood like that.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Meanwhile in his room, Boruto is in the exact same place I left him, playing his video game in his bean bag chair. Eventually I prop the door open and pop my head in. "Hey rich brat," I call. He looks irritated at me. "Take me shopping."

Boruto has to pause and look at me to see if I'm serious. "What?"

"I'm bored. You know the city. Show me a cafe and some stationary shops or something. I wouldn't know where they are."

"The hell; Go by yourself- W-WHA HEY!" I run over and grab him out of his beanbag chair and rush out of the room. "O-Oi! Let me go!"

"C'mon let's get a move on!"

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

After getting changed and everything and finally getting us out of the mansion, Boruto and I were on our way into the shopping district of Leafville City. Boruto managed to suck it up and go along with whatever plan I had. He had no arguement after I said we could be out of the house for a couple of hours if not the whole day, away from the adults. That must be the part that hooked him.

Our small talk has been pretty pathetic so far today. I have to push myself a little bit to be more of an extrovert for the both of us.

"Leafville's pretty neat," I say, finally able to be a tourist as I look around with a disposable camera I bought. Boruto had made fun of me earlier for buying it.

"Why're you taking pictures with that thing? Why don't you use your phone?"

"I don't have a phone here. I left it at home."

Boruto stops in his tracks, watching me walk off. "What the hell kind of kid forgets her cellphone?"

Eventually we make it to a cafe that Boruto recommended. It's quiet and not too busy, but it has sweets he thought I'd like. "Whoa," I stare, looking into the glass case full of all these pretty pasteries. "This is so cool!"

"Just pick one already." I can feel him glaring at the back of my head. It's my birthday anyway. Why am I the one taking her out?

I end up ordering about three desserts on my tray before we get into our seats. Boruto just gets one small cake, and watches me try all three of my treats. As bitter as he is today, he seems to be softening up. And to be honest, after being cooped up in the mansion all this time, this was actually really nice.

"So," I say inbetween bites, finally losing the perky smile and dawning one slightly more serious. "Out with it."

"Out with what?"

"You're clearly in a bad mood today," I tell. "I overheard you and your dad this morning." Was it a good thing to admit that?

"You did?"

I nod once, and Boruto looks down guilty. "Sorry."

"Don't apologize. it's alright," Boruto manages out. "It's just family stuff between my dad and me."

"What kind of family stuff?"

I get a rude look from him instead. "You wouldn't understand," he mutters, picking at his dessert. "My family's all broken."

Broken.

Suddenly I wonder if Boruto and I have any more in common besides age. I don't pester much, but I continue to look at him with sympathy. For a spoiled brat I guess the topic bothers him, because he starts figeting his fingers and fork.

"Please talk to me," I say seriously. "I know we're not the best of friends but I know keeping things all bottled up is never good for you."

More silence.

"Sometimes it's easier to talk to a stranger about things," I say, unconciously quoting Sasuke. I hadn't meant to but it had already spilled out.

Boruto looks up one more time and back down. He still hasn't tried his cake."... It's about my sister."

I raise my head a little, not having expected him to actually open up to me. "I didn't know you had a sister."

"Her name's Himawari," Boruto says low. "She's a few years younger than us."

"What happened to her?"

"It was when we were younger. Years ago," Boruto shakes his head, as if it's hard to say. Part of me feels bad for making him talk now. "My dad's old boarding school I guess reached out to him, offered him a full scholarship to one of his kids to attend half way across the country."

"But... there's no way Naruto would've-"

"My dad thought it would've been bad press if he denied it, so it was between me or my sister to go away to that boarding school."

It's silent between us for a little while. The background sound of the cafe music and other people's voices, though, drown out pretty fast. The Uzumakis had another daughter and all this time I never knew. It was like she never existed. I remember Boruto saying how he had a 'broken' family, too. "So..."

"I haven't seen my sister in five years." That's, a really long time. "I tried persuading my dad to let Himawari come home for a few days for my birthday at least... I don't know why I expected that to work when it hasn't before so, shame on me I guess."

I don't know if this talk is making him feel better or worse. Most likely the latter.

"My mom misses her a lot more than I do though," Boruto mentions. There's this gentle look on Boruto's face now. "They were so happy together. She followed Mom around like a baby duckling all the time in the house."

"She sounds like a sweet kid."

Boruto takes a deep breath. He doesn't look all sour anymore. "Say, why don't we go do that shopping you wanted? I know a stationary store Inojin's mom goes to that's not too far from here, you know."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"How much shit is she gonna buy...?" Boruto asks with a regretful face.

Boruto's just following around quietly behind me as I tour the stationary craft store with starry eyes. I have one I go to back home, but everything here is really nice. I have a tiny basket with the handle around my arm, with stickers and memo pads and cute pens and notebooks all inside already.

"Why are you buying so much stuff from here anyway?"

"I like writing letters," I smile, looking through small wax sticks and old fashioned wax seals. I'm looking for a particular pattern that would suit me. "And putting the notes in cute envelopes and packaging them all nice is fun."

"Such an odd hobby," Boruto judges.

I ignore him and manage to find a small seal that isn't too expensive. It has a small rose pattern inside. I show it to Boruto, who looks confused. "See the wax?" I say, holding up a red candle-like thing. "I melt it here, let the wax drip onto the fold of a letter or envelope, and then I take this seal, stamp it, and it dries really fast."

"Oh," Boruto blinks, kind of getting it. He sees a picture of an example where the stand of seals are, and looks at the one I picked out. He seems impressed. "That'll look nice."

"Right?" I grin.

It's fun finally going out shopping, feeling normal. Before leaving the mansion earlier, Sasuke gave me a small allowance to go out with. Asking for some money from mom was always a hassle, so I expected the same from Sasuke.

He gave me way too much, way too nonchalantly. I'd also never been in Sasuke's office before until when I asked for the money. So I told him I'd get him something to brighten the dim place.

Boruto and I are now over by a small 'office decorating' section. It's cute cutesy and girly, so I lean towards some plants. There's tiny succulents in hand-sized pots, with cute round leaves. "What're these for?" Boruto frowns.

"I wanna get one for Sasuke as a present, since he gave me the money," I say, trying to decide between two cute plants that look the same. I hold the tiny pots up to Boruto. "Which one looks nicer?"

Of course he must think they look the same, and that I'm crazy. "Just pick one so we can pay and leave. I don't like being in here too long," he frowns grumpily. No wonder he admires Sasuke so much. He's a grouch like him.

"I'll pick this one," I decide, eyeing it warmly.

"What's gotten into you today? You're never this chipper," Boruto pouts as we walk to the line.

"Well, you obviously aren't," I state as we reach the register next. "I wanted to distract you a little. This was the only way I could think of."

"That's really nice of you," Boruto says, surprising me a little. I keep my focus on counting bills and coins to hide the blush on my face. "I appreciate it."

"That'll be thirty seventy-four, miss."

"No problem," I mutter without facing Boruto.

* * *

 **Happy New Years everyone! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

 **PREVIEW:**

 _ **"How about you?"**_

 _ **"What about me."**_

 _ **"You never talk about yourself," Boruto says pretty straightforward. "All I know is you came from overseas and-" He cuts himself off, remembering he wasn't supposed to see the email on my laptop. "... and that you're here for something." Boruto looks at me. "What're you doing here?"**_

 _ **x-x-x-x-x**_

 _ **"Presents, cake, surprise, and birthday song," Mitsuki summarily reads.**_

 _ **"A small birthday celebration, probably here in this room," I say, looking around. It's a common sitting room, according to one of the maids.**_

 _ **x-x-x-x-x**_

 _ **"You have really pretty eyes, you know that?" Ino asks me.**_

 _ **I blush, hanging up some stuff acros the window. "Thank you. You really think so?"**_

 _ **"Yeah. Do you get them from your mom or your dad?"**_

 _ **I don't exactly know how to feel about that question. "I'm, not really sure."**_


	6. Operation: Birthday Pt2

**Chapter 6: OPERATION BIRTHDAY PT2.**

 ** _It's Boruto's birthday, but there a happens to be some tension in the mansion between him and his father Naruto. With some unwilling help from Sasuke, Sarada takes it upon herself to try and fix it, alongside some of Boruto's friends._**

* * *

I'm holding one pastel green paper bag as Boruto leads the way down a street. It's a little more festive than the market place near where I live.

"Wow," I whisper, kind of just looking all around again. I tell myself I still must look like a tourist.

"Thanks again," Boruto says beside me.

"It's cool. Everyone needs an outlet," I say, still eyes up everywhere.

"Not for today," he says a little frustrated, and shy? I look to the side. "For... you know... just being around," he says while scratching his cheek. "You being here lately has relieved some tension in the house and it's been kind of more fun than usual. Hell even Sasuke's been acting different."

I blush. "Nah." Though it does feel nice to hear that. I'm holding the bagged potted plan in my hands all too carefully and close to my chest. I know I'm trying to help Sasuke unwind more, but I never really knew if it was working. If Boruto says it, I guess it must mean progress.

"So," Boruto says, all lax now, folding his arms behind his head as we stride through the street. "How about you?"

"What about me?"

"You never talk about yourself," Boruto says pretty straightforward. "All I know is you came from overseas and-" He cuts himself off, remembering he wasn't supposed to see the email on my laptop. "... and that you're here for something." Boruto looks at me. "What're you doing here?"

It is just the two of us right now. Naruto and Sasuke and Hinata aren't around. I can trust Boruto, right? He's been like my only friend since I got to Leafville. I breathe out a big sigh and make the decision. "Only if you promise not to tell."

He removes the hands from the back of his head with a straight face. "I won't," he assures carelessly.

"Okay. So... yes I did come from the U.S," I start out, still walking with him. But he already knows that. "The thing is... I ran away technically."

I can already feel his eyes bugging out. "You what?"

I just nod. "I cut my hair, removed my contacts and put on my old glasses so I wouldn't be recognized by anybody when leaving home, and took my first solo flight. I left my phone at home so my mom or my babysitter couldn't trace me."

"That's, pretty bold," Bortuo says cautiously. He must be having a hard time picturing it, much less believing it. "Seriously?"

"Yeah," I laugh nervously. "Never in my wildest dreams did I ever dream I'd do something as crazy as this."

... "What about your dad?"

"... He's not in the picture," I finally say. There's just a few things I'm not ready to say. "It's just me and my mom for as long as I can remember. My family's pretty broken, too."

"Oh," Boruto says sympathetically. "...I'm sorry to hear that."

"Which I why I felt like I couldn't just leave you in your room. A kid should have a fun birthday, even a brat like you." I pause. "Sorry for being so pushy this morning."

"Don't worry about it." I smile, glad we can come to an understanding. "If you don't mind my asking, why did you come all the way out here anyway?" he pesters.

I bite my lip. I don't even know how to come up with a lie to that question. It's almost interrogative now.

 _I should drop it_ , Boruto notices. "You don't have to answer right away," he finally tells me, letting up. "I'm sure there's more but I won't pry."

"I appreciate that," I tell him thankfully. He nods respectfully. "So uh, what happened to not being able to wait until you got rid of me?"

"Oh believe me, I still can't wait for you to be done with your crap and leave," he scoffs. "It's just reassuring to know we're not living with some psychopathic killer that's all."

Ha ha. Nice cover. "Same," I say civilly. This feels like a truce. A nice friendly civil truce. Rain drops start to fall from the sky. It's rain. At that we start to run the rest of the way back to the mansion.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"The kids are getting along pretty well," Sasuke comments as he and Naruto go over paperwork in their personal office.

"Yeah they are," Naruto answers, quite invested in his work. Almost too professional.

"C'mon, don't give me the cold shoulder. It's weird coming from you."

"Aren't we supposed to be going over these proposals before I leave?"

"Aren't you supposed to be talking to your son?" Sasuke asks. Naruto looks up, clearly not impressed by this sudden interest in his personal life. "So the kid misses his sister. Can't blame him."

"You and I both know why we can bring her back here. There's no use trying to explain it," Naruto argues. "Now stop trying to be my conscience. I don't like this new nice-you."

Sasuke almost chuckle, and all of a sudden the double doors barge open (again), and a worrisome maid is on the side as Boruto and I press on into the office. Mostly me.

I march right up to Sasuke's desk. He's sitting behind it with Naruto on the side of the table, also quite confused. I slam the mini plant on top of his desk at the front by the light. "Here."

Sasuke looks at both the plant and me with the most icredulous face. "What the hell is this?"

"It's a plant." Obviously. "To brighten up your stupid office. And you can't get rid of it. I'll know. And if you let it die I won't forgive you."

Sasuke's still surprised at my sudden assertiveness. His eyes look between me and Naruto and then Boruto. Naruto looks quite amused, and behind me Boruto and the maid are in pure shock - all quite scared by the way.

"So if you don't want it to die you'll have to water it once a week. And don't over water it. I'll know if it dies."

"Then why don't you take care of it?"

"Because it's your responsibility."

"Sarada get this off my desk," Sasuke says, pushing the small thing towards me.

"How do you expect to care for people better if you can't take care of a simple plant?" I push it back.

"I don't do plants."

"I don't do laziness!"

" _She's insane_ ," Boruto stares. _No one_ has ever seen Sasuke entertain anyone else besides Naruto with such a stupid sounding argument - and be losing, at that. Sasuke Uchiha never loses face.

"I swear to god, Sarada, get this thing off and get out of my office."

"Then take the stupid plant!"

Meanwhile, Naruto finally takes notice of his son by the door way. Their two connect eyes, and Boruto merely glares before quickly leaving back out. Sasuke and I manage to quiet down enough to notice the moment. Naruto looks troubled.

"Just saying," Sasuke starts, ignoring me for a moment while still pushing the plant back towards me. "The kid deserves some type of explanation."

Naruto looks like he's about to say something, but another maid comes in with a knock on the door. "The driver is ready, Mr. Uzumaki."

"I'll be right there," Naruto replies, looking at us. My face falters a little, and Sasuke looks back down at his work. I can tell Naruto must be struggling with whether to go after Boruto or head to wherever he's supposed to go.

"Mr. Uzumaki?"

Naruto takes his blazer from his chair and his briefcase before exiting the room in silence. It's quiet until Naruto closes the double doors behind him, leaving behind Sasuke and me. What tension.

"Are they gonna be okay?" I ask, looking at the door before the maid closes it back.

"Maybe," Sasuke shrugs. "Not my problem."

"You care," I tease, pushing my glasses up again. _These are so frustrating_.

"So how was your outing with the kid?"

"It was fun." I'd grin, but I feel like it was all for naught, now that Naruto's gone and Boruto's probably back to how he was this morning. "And um, I bought a bunch of stuff to keep me busy-"

"Good."

I roll my eyes. "And I got to see a real patisserie cafe for the first time. I've never been to one before."

"Fascinating," he says flat, going through another paper.

Sasuke's just pretending to ignore me I know it. He enjoys my company. He hasn't kicked me out yet. "I got to cheer up Boruto eventually, but.." _Stupid Naruto_.

Another knock on the door. A maid. "Ms. Sarada? You have visitors."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"A surprise party?" Inojin blinks.

I nod as a maid pours tea. Apparently the guys had arrived at the front door, asking for me and specifically not Boruto. Afterwards, to keep up the secrecy, the maids helped set us up with some tea in a sitting room deeper into the mansion to make sure Boruto wouldn't find us. That was awfully nice of them.

"Where is he?" Shikadai asks.

"Probably up in his room again," I say with a roll of my eye. I'm sitting on one couch while they're all grouped up on another couch across the coffee table. Some really warm tea and snacks are between us. Mom would do stuff like this in our more humble apartment, with less expensive china.

I take out my birthday checklist and unfold the small crumpled note. I hand it to Shikadai across from me, with Inojin and Mitsuki looking over his shoulders to read it.

"Presents, cake, surprise, and birthday song," Mitsuki summarily reads.

"A small birthday celebration, probably here in this room," I say, looking around. It's a common sitting room, according to one of the maids. The guys and Boruto had me have one of my lady-lessons here, but it's pretty big for what I'd need it for. "We just need to set it up, make a cake, and have presents."

"This seems, much," Shikadai comments. He looks at me funny. "Is this how you commoners celebrate birthdays?"

I don't know whether to be offended or bewildered. "Do you guys not?"

"We celebrate birthdays, Sarada. Just, not like this," Inojin explains. "At least not this small scale."

"Then again Boruto's never been an over-the-top guy," Mitsuki adds. "But this sounds interesting. We're in."

"Do you have a plan in mind to do this all before the end of the day?" I ask hopefully.

Shikadai ponders for a moment as he overlooks the list. "Inojin, do you think you can hook us up with decorations?"

"Should be easy enough," Inojin replies. "My mom's flower shop should have a bunch of things we can use."

"I can head out and try to find this game Boruto's been looking for," Shikadai says. "That can be his birthday present."

"What should I do?"

"Do you think you can handle the cake all by yourself?" he asks. "Mitsuki should take Boruto to hang out and make sure he doesn't come back until everything's ready by tonight. Seven o'clock sounds good?"

Mitsuki, Inojin and I nod. Everything sounds pretty solid. "Thanks guys," I smile.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Meanwhile later in the afternoon, Sasuke still remains in his office. Despite it being a weekend, he has an unusual amount of paperwork for the day, and he hasn't left since morning. He even had his lunch delivered to his office by the maids. But even boredom can overcome the richest man in Japan. Before Sasuke can give in to his first break of the day, another knock comes up to his office doors.

"Come in." A maid enters and approaches his desk. "What is it, Amin?"

"It's, um, Sarada sir."

"God. What is it now with her?"

The maid leads the businessman to the kitchen entrance, and his eyes widen. Not that it's a mess, but there's kitchen supplies scattered all over. Different bowls, ingredients. "What is she doing?" Sasuke asks, totally caught off guard by the scene. He's never seen the kitchen so... unorganized.

"She says she's making a birthday cake, sir," the maid whispers. "We've offered our help, but she says she wants to do it herself."

I'm standing up on a step stool, exploring yet another cabinet. Of course when I open it, it's just a bunch of spices. Probably every spice you could cook with in the world - but no stinkin' flour. I sigh, hanging my head. "This kitchen is insane."

"So am I for thinking I could leave you alone for a second."

I look back and see Sasuke walking up to me, arms crossed. "Am I in trouble?"

"What on earth are you doing?" he asks with that face that just does not want to be bothered. Ultimately, I guess he had to check up on me eventually.

"Boruto's gone for only a few hours. I need to finish his birthday cake before the others get back for his surprise party."

"Surprise party?" Sasuke's eyes widen.

Did I not mention that. "Uh," I phase out. "It's, small?"

"Right," Sasuke narrows slowly. He looks around at the multitude of misplaced ingredients. "Why don't you let the maids help you?"

"I have to do it myself," I say, finally finding the flour on the top shelf of the cabinet. I tip toe to try and reach it. "It won't mean the same thing if it's not made by your family."

"You're insane," Sasuke comments. Ignoring him. No wonder Boruto turned out so bratty. He must've taken after Sasuke more than Naruto.

My finger can just barely touch the flour bag. Suddenly I feel hands under my arms as Sasuke lifts and puts me down from the step stool and goes up instead to get me the flour. "If I help you, will you get this mess cleaned up?" My face beams, and I can see Sasuke almost regret offering the help. "Don't get the wrong message. You're freaking out the maids and I need them to clean the rest of the house, including the kitchen."

"You care about Boruto," I accuse.

"I'm going to leave the flour on a higher shelf."

Eventually, Sasuke and I come to an agreement on how to go about the cake, so it's not too plain and not too extravagant. We also put away all the other extra ingredients I pulled out, which is about 70% of the kitchen.

Within the half hour, we're using the blender to stir everything together. It was interesting trying to follow this cake recipe online. As simple as it was, and as capable as Sasuke and I seemed as people - _baking totally destroyed us_. By the time the timer dinged off, what I pulled out of the oven was nothing more than a blacked brick of bread, instead of the white spongy cake we were going for.

Sasuke looks over me and at the cake pan in my hold. Our expressions are enough to say what we're thinking. Until a doorbell. "What now?" Sasuke looks up.

After putting the burnt cake on the counter to cool off (or throw away), another maid shows up at the kitchen entrance. "Miss Sarada?"

Sasuke and I look back and see the maid with a blonde woman standing there, staring at us ridiculously, as well as the maid. The sight of Sasuke Uchiha in an apron must've been an impressive sight, even more so than the burnt monstrosity I am just setting down. At first I wonder who the blonde woman is, but Sasuke stands up a bit straighter and calmly removes his apron. "Ino, what are you doing here?"

"I wanna ask the same thing," Ino almost laughs, then sniffing the air. Oh god the cake. "What's that smell?"

"Just answer the question. I don't have time for this," Sasuke says, if not already irritated with me and my baking shenanigans.

"My kid asked me to deliver some flowers and decorations to the mansion. I thought I'd come in and ask where to take them but," she pauses seeing the blackened cake between Sasuke and I, "Well, I see there's more urgent matters that need your attention." Sasuke's glare is enough to get her to stop laughing. But not because she's intimidated by him. "Alright alright, sheesh. Say, I know a guy who does cakes for some of my events. I can get him to do a rush order for you if you'd like."

Sasuke looks to me, and I guess I'm calling the shots. One more look at Sasuke's and my failed creation is enough to get me to swallow my traditional pride. "Sure, why not."

The woman Ino smiles at me. She's very pretty. "I can get him to deliver a blank cake so you can decorate it, how's that?"

"T-That'd be great! Thank you," I grin. "Oh! Uh, let me show you where to put the decorations!" I remove my apron and stop suddenly, forgetting I'm leaving a huge mess behind. I turn around and see Sasuke's expectant annoyed face.

He sighs, clearly regretting helping me. "I'll clean up here. Go. Decorate or whatever."

"Thanks Sasuke!" I grin, heading out with the rather maid to the front door. 'Freaking out the maids' my ass; they're just as excited to help out with Boruto's birhday. Ino lets us pass and she looks at Sasuke judgingly.

Sasuke starts wiping down the flour off the counter with a cloth. "Don't say anything."

So Inojin had ended up having his mom drive over a bunch of birthday decorations, and has stayed behind to watch his mom's shop while Ino delivered everything. Together Ino, Sasuke and I went back and forth transporting boxes and boxes to that small foyer room where the small party would be.

At some point, Ino's helping me set up flowers and banners and the like. Sasuke would be joining us soon apparently, he's just taking a business call outside the foyer.

"Seriously man, you're still downtown?" Sasuke says over the phone to Naruto. "You can't get out of it?"

" _Not until late midnight, Sasuke. Sorry_."

Sasuke leans against the wall, watching Ino and I bond together over decorating in the room. It was a rather peaceful sight, only to be contradicted by the bullshit he was hearing over his phone. "The kids are throwing Boruto a surprise party," Sasuke informs. "It'll look pretty bad on you if you can't make it. Come on it's the weekend. You can call out of those meetings if you want. You're not obligated to stay."

A few voices in the background are heard over the phone. " _I've gotta go Sasuke. I'll call back later_."

"Just try to get out of it? For your kid?"

"No promises." Naruto hangs up without a goodbye, and Sasuke stares down at his phone rather disappointed. Naruto was rarely a shitty man, but as a dad, Sasuke had his reserved judgements.

"You have really pretty eyes, you know that?" Ino tells me out of the blue.

I blush, hanging up some stuff across the window. "Thank you. You really think so?"

"Yeah. Do you get them from your mom or your dad?"

I don't exactly know how to feel about that question. "I'm, not really sure, haha," I play off.

Ino lowers her eyelids a little, watching as I try to tape the banner up. "Your mother must have been beautiful then. I wanna bet you got your eye shape from her at least."

"You're really pretty yourself," I compliment back to the nice woman. "You and Inojin look a lot alike."

"Really? I think he looks a lot more like his father," Ino laughs. "Inojin's dad works overseas a lot, so they don't get to see each other often, but I see a lot of my husband in my son." That makes me wonder if Mom sees dad when she looks at me. I wonder if that makes her feel any particular way. Longingly? Sad? Angry? She's only every been loving to me, but I'd hate to think my looking like Sasuke ever made my Mom angry at some point in our lives together.

"Sorry if I come off a little creepy," Ino finally realizes. "But you remind me of an old friend of mine. In the face of all this pomp and circumstance, she always had a graceful and rebellious way of facing it."

"That's nice to know," I laugh.

"Miss Sarada," a maid announces by the door. "Shikadai has returned."

I look down from the ladder and see him enter the room. "They didn't have the game," Shikadai frowns. "I looked all over the city. It's sold out everywhere."

"That dunce would like a game that popular," I mutter over Boruto. "That's okay. Buying gifts is over-rated. We can think of something later."

"I guess I'll leave the decorating to you two then. I've got to head back to the shop," Ino smiles. "I'll pick up Inojin and drop him off back here. I'll pickup the cake while I'm at it." Ino kneels down in front of me with the warmest expression. "It was very nice meeting you, Sarada."

Being around Ino gives me butteries for some reason. Like giddy butterflies, maybe because she reminds me of mom. "It was nice meeting you too. Thank you for all your help."

We watch Ino get back up and make a graceful exit. I'm still a little awe stuck as Shikadai looks back and forth between us, a little questionable about what just happened.

Ino passes Sasuke at the door, having just got off the phone. "No Naruto?"

"Most likely not," Sasuke admits with his arms crossed. "I don't know what that idiot's doing."

"Don't be too hard on Naruto," Ino frowns though, looking at Shikadai and I in total obliviousness. "Though, all this is pretty new."

"Boruto's been having a rough day," Sasuke supposes.

"I don't think this is just a result of Boruto having a bad birthday," Ino comments with raising eyebrows. "Cute kid you took in. She seems like a good influence on the boys."

"If by good influence you mean more trouble making then yes, she's amazing." Ino raises her eyebrow, reading Sasuke fairly well. "But she is interesting."

Ino watches as I panic from the suddenly fallen banner in a very familiar way to her. It's almost like her old pink-haired friend, and at that moment, Ino knew just who she was looking at. "Interesting indeed. Anyway, I'll head out and finish up a few other errands. I'll try to get Shikamaru to talk to Naruto. He should be down there with the guy at the meeting."

"Thanks." Ino waves her hand as she shows herself out.

All that we have left in the next two hours is to finish decorating the room and the cake, and at least one really decent makeshift present. Ino drops off Inojin and together he, Shikadai, and I get to finish up decorating the room - as much as kids can anyway. Ino also drops off a small three layer cake, with one layer of base-icing, and all these other decorations and bags as well. You'd think two hours was a lot of time, but the three of us were desperately scrambling.

We asked Mitsuki to stall for as long as he could, but according to him, Boruto was getting pretty restless and kinda just wanted to go home and ditch Mitsuki. Understandable, after five hours.

I'd see Sasuke check in every now and then, probably to make sure we weren't making too much of a mess. But he'd help out in his own small Sasuke ways. If we couldn't reach something, he'd come in and wordlessly get it for us. Out of a certain icing color - he'd get it for us from the kitchen. Apparently he also sent a maid over at some point with some snacks.

Before too long, the ultimate text arrived.

"Boruto and Mitsuki are on their way back to the mansion," Shikadai announces, scrolling his phone. "They're nearby."

"Alright, everything's good," Inojin checks. All the banners were up (and super secure with duct tape, this time). The cake is, euh, as tackily decorated as possible. Decorating with icing was a lot harder than it looked.

As for our single managed present, nicely wrapped by the way, was brain-stormed as last minute as possible. Suddenly the power of money couldn't help us out of this situation. We couldn't buy Boruto's game, and Shikadai and Inojin's creative intuition... left a lot to be desired.

We did as good a 'home-made' gift as we could in our remaining time, but it was nicely wrapped.

Sasuke comes back to the room in his short routine check ups and notices us more or less done. He glances around the room, rather impressed. "Uh, guys?" The three of us turn around. "Are you the ones who have the maids set up at the windows with binoculars?" The three of us are silent, looking at one another with eye glances. Sasuke sighs and shakes his head. "You kids are ridiculous."

"Miss Sarada," a maid accidentally bumps in behind Sasuke. "Boruto and Mitsuki are making their way to the front door."

"Great! Everyone hide!" I call out.

"Hide?" Inojin frowns. "Why are we hiding?"

My face fell so much. And Inojin is not the only one with a confused look. "You're all kidding right? Do you, seriously not know how these surprise parties work?"

Back in the ball room, Boruto unlocks the front door and opens it, revealing the low-light lit ballroom. About as empty as he left it when Mitsuki dragged him out earlier in the afternoon. His bored and tired face sighs, a feeling a little bittersweet at the emptiness. "Finally home."

"Thanks for inviting me over or dinner, Boruto."

"You're welcome. Well, you kind of invited yourself over," Boruto notes as the two walk through the mansion. "Don't expect much. Everyone's kinda of doing their own thing today so we won't be having anything big for dinner."

"That's fine," Mitsuki says as they approach the foyer, which has the lights on.

Boruto momentarily passes it and it's overly-decorated view, but his brain starts turning gears and he steps back a few, peering into the room. "What the-"

"Surprise!" I yell, popping out behind a couch. Inojin and Shikadai yell it as well, coming from behind curtains and behind the piano. Two maids also come out of hiding, and I eventually drag Sasuke into standing up as well from behind the couch, rather grumpily. I had forced him to hide with me because it was too late to leave.

Mitsuki smiles as Boruto's mouth hangs open, his eyes kind of looking everywhere at once. Shikadai and Inojin laugh, running up to the other half of their group. "Happy Birthday, dude," Shikadai says.

"Do you like it?" Inojin asks.

"W-Wha... Hell yeah!" Boruto finally registers as all the guys jokingly shove him around. It's the widest grin Boruto's had all day as the four boys laugh. I stand awkwardly behind the couch with my dad, but I can't help but smile too.

"You did good, kiddo," Sasuke says.

"We hung up all the decorations by ourselves," Inojin brags.

"Yeah well Sarada kept taping it wrong and it fell down like a bajillion times," scoffs Shikamaru.

"Hey," I laugh accusingly.

"Sarada?" Boruto remembers, looking at me behind the couch. He also finally notices Sasuke. "You're here, too?" Boruto asks taken back, a little amused Sasuke would get dragged into this mess.

"Happy birthday kid," Sasuke half smiles.

"Your friends also made you a cake," one of the maids present happily. Boruto smiles at it, only to suddenly frown at the unprofessionally iced design. And the writing, 'Happy Birthday Boruto' looks like it was written by someone in Pre-K, along with a distasteful amount of sprinkles in various places.

"Yow," Boruto looks, "Did you guys write all that?"

"That was Sarada," Shikadai blames, laughing.

"You should've seen her first attempt at _baking_ the cake," Sasuke says on his way out from behind the couch.

"Sasuke," I try to shush.

"Thanks everyone," Boruto smiles as us kids sit around the small coffee table. One of the maids start to light up the cake with candles. "This is probably the best birthday ever."

"Wait you got a gift," Inojin says, puling out a medium-sized box from under the table.

Boruto wastes no time in unwrapping the gift. Opening it, his expression quickly turns to confusion as he pulls out a... uh, rather off figurine, and it's kind of wet. "Uh... thanks?"

"We tried to find you a good gift, but this was all we could come up with when we couldn't find one," Shikadai says.

"What is it?"

"It's supposed to be a handmade action figure of your favorite Ninja Slayers fighter," Inojin says, pointing at small points of the paper-mache figure. "Look there's his weapon holster, and his scarf."

"Probably best to let him dry first," I suggest sympathetically.

Boruto doesn't seem to mind, appreciating the gesture. He carefully places the hand-sized figurine back in the box. "Thanks guys, really."

"All ready!" the maid says excitedly, finished lighting the candles and turning off the light. Boruto's face brightens up with the flame's light.

I'm really glad everything turned out as amazing as it did, despite it all literally being just planned today. But despite Boruto's obvious overjoy, I can still see his eyes scanning sometimes - and I can tell Naruto's absence is the loudest here. He doesn't seem to say anything over it though.

Suddenly Boruto's about to blow out the candle, and I shove my arm out in front of him. "Wait," I say suddenly.

"Now what?" he glares.

"We still have to sing the birthday song."

"What birthday song," he says, impatient about the cake.

Despite 'birthday song' being on the list, Inojin and Shikadai and Mitsuki all look somewhat lost, and then I realize just how deprived these kids are. It's like they lack common sense almost.

"Why don't you sing it for us, Sarada," Mitsuki suggests through the darkness. Boruto looks to his friend. "All of this was set up by Sarada, you know."

"Really?" Boruto blinks.

Mitsuki nods. "Apparently this is all how commoners celebrate their birthdays, most likely to save costs and time. It's rather efficient and cozy." Sometimes I just want to smack that guy.

I exhale to calm myself down. "I wouldn't exactly call it a commoner's birthday. This is how everyone celebrates their birthday."

"Then just sing so we can cut the cake already. I'm starving," Inojin agrees impatiently.

Suddenly all eyes are on me beside Boruto. Even the maids and Sasuke look down at me expectingly. Wow, I've never been this nervous about a birthday song before. Usually everyone is singing it, and off key. Nonetheless, I go.

"Oh happy~birthday on your special day... That you are very precious is, what we way to say... and congradulations sent your way~... So haaapy~birthday~today~..."

After that short song, all the guys clap politely, which was more than I expected. I feel my cheeks warm up and Boruto automatically blows out his candles. The lights turn back on and one maid cuts the cake, while the other fans out the candle smile. As the guys cheer, Sasuke comes up and sits on the couch behind us. "Cute song," he compliments to me. "Where'd you learn it?"

"Oh, back home that's the song we always sing on birthdays," I laugh nervously, still a little shy about singing alone. "But a lot of people back home sing this song. I'm surprised no one here knew it. Guess it's not that common after all, haha."

"Don't look so flustered. You did great."

I feel quite proud to have even the smallest praise from Sasuke. Boruto quickly hands me a slice, bringing me out of the conversation with Sasuke.

A maid offers Sasuke a slice to which he politely refuses. The man just sits on the arm of the couch and watches the over excited kids kneeling in front of the table with sugar. He has to admit, hearing that birthday song brought back a feeling of familiarity. Only one other person sang birthday songs that way, but he quickly washes that thought out of his head. Probably just a coincidence. I did say after all a lot of people back where i came from sang that song for celebrations.

Sasuke quickly checks his phone. No return call from Naruto. He'd called in at least two more times. No luck. As much as he likes to stay out of family affairs, Sasuke would be lying if he said he wasn't a little disappointed.

After the short night celebration, the boys head out after their parents pick them up. We clean up as much as we can, but the maids insist that they got it, and that we head up for bed. Boruto and I call it a night and head up together. Sasuke already called in for bed an hour ago.

"That was one ugly cake but damn it was good," Boruto says lazily, rubbing his stomach.

"Hey we tried," I laugh, also admitting tired. "You try writing a name as long as yours on a cake and see how hard it is."

"Who knew a stick in the mud like you knew how to throw a party," Boruto compliments. "And this place has had a bunch of parties in my lifetime. That was really fun. Thank you."

"It wasn't just me. Everyone helped out for you." There's this silence once we reach the top of the ballroom staircase. This is where we part ways for our bedrooms. "Um..."

Boruto looks at me before he leaves for the night. "Yeah?"

"... I'm sorry your dad couldn't make it. We tried but..."

"It's alright, Sarada. I had low hopes for today and, after tonight, it turned out definitely a lot better. Screw it if my dad didn't show," Boruto grins. Look at him trying to cheer me up. It should be the other way around. "Honest. It's okay."

"No. It's not okay," I frown sadly. His fake cheerfulness can't mask his disappointment for his father. "I can sympathize with someone not being there for you. It's pretty crappy."

"Well, yeah, but focusing on that isn't gonna cheer myself up. Friends will. You taught me that today." Wow. How grown up of him to say. A little surprising actually. "So, thanks."

I return the mutual smile. "You're welcome."

With that, we go our own ways for the night. It was a lot of fun honestly. I bet Boruto had fun too. And I can only hope Sasuke did as well, despite his sourness about the entire process. As for Naruto, it's hard for me to judge how their family works, but if I can come this far, I can only hope things between Boruto and his dad get better, too.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Boruto heads up to his door and opens the lights, tired after a full day of literally getting dragged around by well, everyone. However what he finds in his supposedly empty room is his father, waiting in his computer gaming chair. "D-Dad!?- What are you-" Boruto stops himself and calms down, remembering how upset he was with him in the first place. "When did you come in?"

"Just now. I left as soon as Shikamaru took my place at the meetings. Sadly I still got here pretty late," Naruto says, but his son still looks rather upset. "How was your birthday?"

"Fine," Boruto keeps his words short. He would have loved to talk about his day but, he reserved himself. "I'd like to go to bed now. I've had a long day."

"Very well. You're right," Naruto says apologetically. "Happy Birthday, Boruto."

"Thanks," Boruto replies lowly, keeping his eyes down as Naruto leaves, seemingly forgetting their argument this morning. However, Boruto spots a wrapped present sitting on his computer desk, where his father was.

Hesitatingly he sits in his chair and turns to his desk. There's a name tag on the gift. To him. From Naruto. Boruto stars at it for a moment before carefully unwrapping the fancy ribbon around the box. His eyes widen. "Ninja Slayers 4.5," Boruto stares. He's been trying to get this game on pre-order for weeks. And even after it's release it's almost impossible to get. "How did Dad get... how'd he know I wanted it?"

Boruto looks up at his empty door, but decides not to think too hard on it. As much as he wanted the game, it's not so much his dad scoring the hard-to-find product. What got him was how Naruto even knew Boruto wanted this game. That's a lot more than Boruto expected his father to know about him. "What a lame guy," Boruto smiles half heartedly.

* * *

 **Sorry for not updating in a while! Work's been occupying a lot of my time, but it's always refreshing to come back and edit some new chapters!**

 ** _PREVIEW:_**

 ** _"I don't know why you're telling us," says Shikadai. "You're the one who lives with her. Wouldn't you know anything? If there was anything fishy about her at all?"_**

 ** _"Sounds like you have a crush on her, Boruto," Mitsuki states as calmly as Mitsuki does._**

 ** _"What?!" Boruto jumps in his seat, silencing himself as he remembers the time. "Where the hell did you get that? I was just calling her fishy."_**

 ** _x-x-x-x_**

 ** _The blond sighs. "I don't see why you're letting this bother you so much. It's how kids are. They get mad. Don't let it irritate you the whole day. You've had much worse breathing down your neck before."_**

 ** _"Don't remind me," Sasuke says._**

 ** _"Look all I'm saying is, maybe you should just apologize to Sarada-"_**

 ** _"For what?!" Sasuke says ridiculously. "I didn't do anything wrong."_**

 ** _And he calls me the man child. "Maybe. But it's still your responsibility as her, uh, role...model...guardian...man," nice Naruto, "to kinda just suck up your pride and just say you're sorry for hurting her feelings."_**

 ** _Sasuke's face says otherwise, and Naruto realizes maybe he's hoped for too much in his little speech._**

 ** _x-x-x-x_**

 ** _"My mom's always dreamed of having a studio just like this."_**

 ** _"That's funny. Sakura has always been a bit of a copy-cat."_**

 ** _My spinning stops. My head feels the crash of dizziness, as well as my entire cover hitting the floor. My back is to her, and suddenly this woman I've been so comfortable around, is just as quickly possibly my biggest threat._**

 ** _As if my silence and stillness says it all. "I know you're Sasuke and Sakura's daughter."_**


	7. Game's Checkmate Pt1

**Chapter 7: Game's Checkmate**

 ** _When Sasuke forgets a promise he made to Sarada, upset she decides to spend a day out with the Ino at her place for some well-over-due girl time. What is supposed to be a relaxing getaway for Sarada turns into crucial meet up with Sakura's past. Even more so, her secret of being Sasuke's daughter is at risk of being let out. Meanwhile, Boruto and Inojin's friendly rivalry turns into competitive jealousy on Boruto's end._**

* * *

"Uh..."

All eyes in the kitchen couldn't help but look at Sasuke, sitting at the kitchen table for breakfast. Not just grabbing something. But just... sitting. Having a plate, and a laptop. " _He's actually eating breakfast with us_?" I whisper to Hinata, as she pours some pancakes onto my plate.

"Shh," Hinata hushes politely, going around the table and giving breakfast. Though she seems quite amused too.

Even Naruto is a little bewildered, holding up his coffee cup. "You uh, joining us this morning for breakfast, Sasuke?"

Sasuke looks around with an odd stare. "Yeah? What of it?"

"You just..." Naruto pauses, trying not to offensively stare, "never do."

I look between everybody, clenching my teeth. "Well I think it's neat you're here, Sasuke," I say brightly, trying to keep the mood bright.

If anything. Today's supposed to be a good day. Yesterday Sasuke promised me that he'd take me out to the park. Sounds like a pretty boring idea, but every other time I asked Sasuke to do some kind of activity, he'd shrug it off for work related things - which I kind of understood. Only yesterday, after a full rainy day (and Boruto being out with his mom) I was left alone in the mansion bored all day. Sasuke must've taken pity on me passing by during the evening, and suggested the park outing. I didn't believe him at first, but he insisted on some one-on-one us time, to bond. I still almost thought it was a joke, but he promised.

And now today he's eating breakfast with everyone. "The table looks fuller like this," I add.

"I agree," Hinata smiles, taking her seat and completing the table. All five of us are here. I admit, this is a great feeling. Hinata looks beside her at the half-asleep Boruto, elbowing him. "And you, what time did you go to sleep last night?"

His head bobs with his half asleep expression. "Um, 4:30?"

"In the morning?" Naruto says sternly. "You know you shouldn't be up that late playing video games."

"I wasn't playing games," Boruto grumbles all grumpy. In all honesty he wasn't. Apparently, every other day Boruto and the guys will video chat online. Every other week. It's just what they do.

Only last night, an unexpected topic came up between the boys, that extended their night-time conversation for hours. The subject: Sarada.

 _"I'm telling you guys, there's something fishy about her," Boruto says, thinking to himself. "She's just super secretive about a lot of things. It's kind of weird."_

 _"I don't know why you're telling us," says Shikadai. "You're the one who lives with her. Wouldn't you know anything? If there was anything fishy about her at all?"_

 _"Sounds like you have a crush on her, Boruto," Mitsuki states as calmly as Mitsuki does._

 _"What?!" Boruto jumps in his seat, silencing himself as he remembers the time of night. "Where the hell did you get that? I was just calling her fishy."_

 _"I dunno man. If you don't make a move I just might," Inojin teases with a funny grin._

 _"What's that supposed to mean?" Boruto glares with a pout._

 _"See that's what we mean. You're all on edge whenever the topic of Sarada comes up," Inojin mentions. "But if you're clear she's not on your radar than that just means the market's open for other guys."_

 _Boruto knew Inojin could say some out there things, and some other times just be plain insensitive, but that was Inojin's nature. Almost competitive to Mitsuki's passive nature. "Sarada's not some item on a market you know. She's a person."_

 _"Yeah yeah, but a smart one. For a commoner, she's a real trip, you know?" Inojin goes on._

 _"Watch it!" Boruto says._

 _"Guys?" Shikadai utters, foreseeing where this may be going._

And Mitsuki and Shikadai ended up restlessly listening to the ongoing banter between Inojin and Boruto. With Inojin's egging on and Boruto's rising defensiveness, it just ended up turning into a feud - which ended up with Boruto angrily dropping the call.

Of course, the whole ordeal ran straight up to 4:30am, leaving Boruto in a pretty grouchy mood. Not that he'd tell anyone that.

"So what do you guys have planned today?" Hinata asks the other grown ups at the end of the table.

"We have an event to go to downtown," Naruto speaks up, causing my ears to perk up. "The mayor's hosting a financial building ground breaking and has asked Sasuke to appear."

"Will you be needing the limo today?" Hinata asks.

"Most likely yes. Would you prepare that for us?" Sasuke asks.

"Sure thing."

Sasuke nods in assurance, but I feel my mouth dry up as I find myself picking at my pancakes. _He... didn't remember?_ As if my thoughts were on some loud speaker, I felt Sasuke's gaze across from the table. "What's with you."

My low eyes look up and back down at my plate. "Nothing."

One more thing I noticed about Sasuke the past few days: he hates when me, or people really, hide their feelings. Because Sauske Uchiha is so straightforward. So when I'm upset, and pretend I'm not, or at least don't make an effort to hide or get over it, it just pisses the guy off.

Sasuke glares at my 'nothing' reply. "No out with it. What."

"Nothing!"

"Not again," Naruto murmurs, sipping his coffee.

"Is this about us having to hang out today?" Sasuke pesters.

"We don't have to. And I'm not upset."

"Then why do you sound upset?"

"Why are you suddenly so on my case?"

Even the sleepy Boruto can see the oddness of our fights. The last few days Sasuke and I will sometimes engage in somewhat more, uh, aggressive emotions. Of course expressing more ranges of emotions means an expanding and growing relationship. But angry negative emotions is never pleasant.

And our fine first perfect breakfast... has ended. "Do you expect me to cancel an appearance with the mayor?"

"No of course not!" I argue.

"Then just say why you're so angry then."

"Just drop it! It's not important! I'm going to my room."

As politely as I can I excuse myself from the breakfast. Am I mad? Well after that whole scene I definitely feel mad. I can never get upset over Sasuke's busy schedule. I know how things go. What does tick me off is how Sasuke can just throw the word 'promise' around. Is he seriously gonna pretend like that never happened? And if he forgot then just forget about it.

 _Guys can be so stupid sometimes. Even grown up guys._

On my way past the ballroom, I can see a couple maids helping with flower deliveries, and Ino heading the order by the looks of it. "Ino?" I see.

The beautiful woman turns her shoulder. With her standing by the door, the sunlight hits her majestically, and her chiffon skirt twirls gracefully around her stance. "Hey, good morning Sarada. Don't mind me. Just making some weekly deliveries for the mansion."

"I should've known all the mansion's flowers came from you," I smile, walking up. Various flower arrangements held by the maids come in and in.

"Sarada!" Hinata comes in after me from the kitchen, but notices who I've run into. "Ino."

"Hinata hi!" Ino grins. "Don't mind me, just finishing today's delivery. But long time no see! I missed you last time I was around."

"Boruto mentioned a lot of nice things about his birthday. I meant to thank you for helping out the next time I saw you," Hinata greets warmly. "I see you've already met Sarada."

"Haha yeah! I've taken a great liking to this kid," Ino's says with a strong arm around my shoulders. Amidst the company of all these rich people, Ino seems the most down to earth and normal. Or at least the one to remind me the most of people from home. She's just so, cool and chill.

"Anywho," Hinata sighs, looking back at me. "Are you and Sasuke okay? It's not like you guys to burst out like that."

"It's nothing Hinata. Honest," I reply stubbornly. I must've inherited that from Sasuke.

"Ooh what's up?" Ino noses. However by the look on Hinata's face, Ino realizes she may be hitting some buttons. " _Auh_ , huh. Uh-huh, say kiddo, why don't you come come and spend the day with me at my place? I do all my mansion's flower arrangements every Wednesday. I could use some help." She leans down in a whisper. "Inojin's not a big fan of flower-power."

I can't help but laugh at how she phrased that. And I've been dying for some time away from the mansion. Maybe some time away form Sasuke and the Uzumakis could be good too. At that, I just need Hinata's approval.

She can already tell by my pleading face. "Go ahead. I'll let Naruto and Sasuke know."

"Yes! Thank you Hinata!" I cheer with a quick hug.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

After getting dressed, Ino put me up in her pick up truck and started to drive. Inojin's place was apparently fifteen minutes away from the Uchiha Mansion by drive.

"I really like your pick-up-truck Ino," I smile. I haven't sat in something as normal as middle-class as a pick up truck since, well home. Much less the front seat of a vehicle.

"Thanks!" she grins. And it's stick. "My husband insists I use one of our nicer cars, but it's a little hard to deliver flowers in a sports car, you know?"

Eventually we reach a residential area, but it's pretty fancy. Not humongous mansions like Sasuke's that have it's own block and street name, but this is still pretty amazing. Every building here has pillars and large front windows with chandeliers in every front room.

The normal-sized mansion (in comparison to Sasuke's) is of course the one with the best looking garden, and a shop right next door. There's a large green house in the back yard as well. "Whoa..."

"Not as impressive as Sasuke's but it's pretty cozy." She parks her truck down a cobblestone drive way.

"So, what do you and your husband do?" I ask as I jump out of her truck.

She leads me through her front door, and it's very grand in itself by the design and selection of furniture, not to mention the high pastel ceilings. "My husband Sai works in fashion, so he's overseas in Europe most of the time," Ino explains as we tour her home. It's barren and spacious as I notice the lack of maids. How spoiled must I be becoming to notice that aspect of a new home? "He's kind of the breadwinner, but I don't do too shabby myself."

We enter the back of her mansion, where I realize almost every room is like a green-room, with hanging plants of all types, and flower bouquets on every table and stand. They're gorgeous. "You do flowers?"

"I run my own flower shop," Ino brags proudly. "I never meant for it to be anything huge. I just love working with flowers, you know? But what with Sai's connections, everyone just seems to come to me for their home decor. I can't complain. Regulars who happens to be big shots like Sasuke Uchiha? Less stress off my back in terms of finding money. But hey." She pulls a daisy from one of the desks where a bouquet is currently gettng arranged, "I'm happy."

"That's amazing," I commend, accepting the flower. "Being able to do what you love for a living."

"Hell yeah it's amazing," she grins. "Come on let me show you the upstairs."

We take a side staircase, and I notice some photos and portraits hung on the walls. Some I recognize to be Inojin. The black haired man must be Sai, his father. "Where's Inojin?"

"Still asleep probably. He stayed up pretty late last night. You know boys."

I scoff. Finally someone who gets it. "Yeah."

The upstairs appears rather feminine. French in design almost. It's a nice contrast to Sasuke's tall and pale modern colors. Lots of natural lighting and of course floral depictions in engravings, paintings, wallpapers. Ino eventually leads me to a double-door room and allows me to enter first. "Oh wow."

The carpeting is soft to each step, with floral wall paper and an entire wall with tall windows. There's a sitting area for tea, and shelves and shelves with boxes and baskets. A small wardrobe and workshop area with ribbons and crafts.

"My studio area," Ino introduces. "A little girly, but what do you think?"

"What do I think? This is fantastic!" Just look at all the tissue paper and string. Rolls of ribbon. Stamps and wax and old Polaroids strung from the ceiling. My feet spin in just circles as I wade into the center of the room. The ceiling raises to be a dome, with a sky-painted pattern and accented lighting. "My mom's always dreamed of having a studio _just_ like this, with the color scheme and furniture and everything."

Ino laughs, crossing her arms as she looks around herself. "Haha. That's funny. Sakura always has been a bit of a copy-cat."

My feverish spinning stops. My head feels the crash of dizziness, as well as my entire cover hitting the floor. My back is to her, and suddenly this woman I've been so comfortable around, is just as quickly possibly my biggest threat.

And as if my silence and stillness says it all. "I know you're Sasuke and Sakura's daughter."

My head turns my shoulder, and there's this new look on Ino. A sly yet in-control smile. Like, she knows a lot more than I thought and she's cornered me. And I'm all alone here, with her.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"You knew my parents that long?" I ask as Ino pours me some rose tea. We're still in her studio space, but now seated by a small table and some couch chairs.

Ino shakes her head. "Just your mom. I didn't meet Sasuke until way later."

"But you still knew them beforehand," I say, eager to learn. "What were they like? How was mom?"

While preparing the tea, Ino had also retrieved a book and a box, all with photos. She had placed them on the table for me to look through - most of them Ino and my Mom in their youth. "Your mom and I went to high school together here in Japan. We met on the girls basketball team."

No way. "Mom played basketball?" I just can't see it.

"Uh-huh. We used to argue about who followed who into the game, but either way we made a great team, she and I. We were best friends." She shows me a photo of her and my mom as teenagers, playing basketball in their uniform. Mom with long hair. It's incredible. "Sasuke was kind of a loner in high school, despite everyone knowing who he was."

"So even back then he was ' _Sasuke Uchiha_ '?" I ask with a figurative smile and finger quotes.

"Yup. It was pretty intimidating," Ino admits nostalgically. "But they played one game of basketball together, one on one. Sasuke was pretty cocky back in the day, and so was Sakura. Your mom was never one to give special treatment due to reputation." Haha leave it to mom to pick a fight with Sasuke Uchiha. "She beat his ass in the greatest one-on-one game ever." _Oh my god mom_.

"So that's really how they met? Is that how they got together?"

"I assume so. They were also pretty secretive, which was annoying," Ino recalls. "But I could tell they were totally into each other."

The thought makes me smile shamelessly wide. This is a bucket-load of information I'm learning. Mom's never told me anything close to these stories, even about her past as a student. "Then what happened?"

"We lost contact when we split different ways for college. I wanted to study environmental science. Sakura wanted to study fashion. And of course the Uchiha cheese-head had his own family plan ahead for him. So I never really knew what became of those two."

Oh...

"But a few years later, after I married, I ran into Sakura again during my husband's business trip to the U.S. My husband and Sakura worked in similar fields and were pretty successful, so they were bound to meet." Ino looks at a photo from the box of her and her friend. "When Sai and I met her at a conference hall, she was heavily pregnant."

Stars start flying in my head. "That's me."

Ino smiles, nodding to me. "She'd never say much about it. She almost tried convincing me she did a voluntary in-vitro to be a single mother, but I knew that was a joke." Oh mom. "In fact, I was there when you were born, Sarada. I was there when your mom named you."

There's this spark in my eye when she says that. She reaches into the box again, and pulls out a small golden bracelet way too small for my wrist.

"This was a gift for you when you were born, from my family." Ino lets me have it, and I observe it with this familiarity. The trinket is in gold. "Of course it didn't fit. I told Sai it was too big," she laughs, shaking her head. "Sakura told me to hold onto it, as an incentive to meet up again when you got a little older. Of course, we lost contact and I never got to give it to you again."

A small warmth glows in my heart knowing that story, and holding the little golden bracelet in my fingers. There's a small golden bar in the chain, with an engraving inside it. "Strength," I read aloud.

"I always wondered who the father was, even after my husband and I returned to Japan. Your mom said she'd be raising you alone over there."

That's when I realize, that by the time Mom gave birth to me... Dad was already out of the picture. He's in none of the photos Ino is showing me.

"But the instant I saw you in Sasuke's home, I knew," Ino concludes with a heartwarming smile.

My eyes widen as I clench my hands over my lap. "You mean even then you knew who I was?"

"I couldn't believe it at first. Remember, the only other time I'd met you was when you were a newborn. Perhaps it was just a coincidence that Sasuke Uchiha had taken in the so-called American charity case who just so happened to be named Sarada." Her eyes narrow. "But looking at your eyes, I see so much of your mom in you."

Hearing that, I couldn't help but blush.

"And now that you're not bald and wrinkly, I can totally see a bit of Sasuke, too." Haha, now I'm smiling so big my cheeks hurt. She sips her tea once more before putting her cup back on her saucer. "So I have to ask, what are you doing here, Ms. Haruno?"

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Back at the Uchiha Mansion, Boruto is wandering the halls by himself. With all the adults back to their normal routine, and with me out somewhere for the day, Boruto had practically the whole mansion to himself. In fact, it's probably the first time in a long time he's had time to himself like this without me around.

And after a short nap after breakfast, as well as a good three hour nap, Boruto eventually found himself pretty bored. He thought it'd be pretty fun having me out of the house but, it's actually kind of lonely.

He passes my closed bedroom door, and recalls how I always seem to have it closed. Well, most bedrooms are. But Boruto finds that whenever he goes to knock, there's always this rushed 'Hold on!' reply, some scrambling and noise, before entrance is allowed. Secretive yes. Suspicious, yes. A sneaky hoodlum? Boruto doubts it. He's learned over the past two weeks that his new friend is trustworthy.

Of course, now that I'm out of the mansion, this is the perfect time to search the room for any answers to her secrets.

Boruto stands before the door for a long time in honest right-and-wrong contemplation before finally stepping away. "That's so messed up Boruto. You're not raiding a girl's room." _Her secrets are her secrets_. _I know I said she could tell me when she's ready but, I still can't help but feel like there's something weird going on_.

And besides still being angry at Inojin, Boruto's been ignoring texts and calls from Shikadai and Mitsuki. He needed some time away from the guys.

"Maybe the adults are having some downtime now," Boruto supposes. After making it downstairs to the adults' office, he finds the doors closed as normal. Peeking in without knocking, much to his surprise Naruto and Sasuke actually aren't working.

Naruto is sitting on Sasuke's desk, seemingly pondering something. Sasuke meanwhile is kind of pacing all different directions, supposedly going through different files and books in the office but by the looks of it, he's just... talking.

"You know she _is_ a teenager, remember?" Naruto points out, lazing around as he signs document after document, quite calmly. "Well, she's twelve, but she's on the brink of teenagerhood."

Sasuke rubs his temples, clearing coming on with a headache. "So what if she's some pre-teen? I hate when she gets so defensive like that. It's so irritating."

"Um," Naruto recalls. "She's wasn't the one being so defensive. It was, kinda more, you."

"I'm not defensive," Sasuke turns around, and Naruto blinks, not wanting to tick off the man even more.

The blond sighs. "I don't see why you're letting this bother you so much. It's how kids are. They get mad. Don't let it irritate you the whole day. You've had much worse breathing down your neck before. Remember that lady Ms. Junchi who had the hots for you?" The guy can't stop laughing. "She wouldn't leave you alone for a week."

"Don't remind me," Sasuke glares with a face.

"Look all I'm saying is, maybe you should just apologize to Sarada-"

"For what?!" Sasuke says ridiculously. Almost every Sasuke-response has caught Naruto, and the peeping Boruto, off guard. They've never seen the man this riled up before. "I didn't do anything wrong."

"Maybe. But it's still your responsibility as her, uh, role...model...guardian...man," nice Naruto, "to kinda just suck up your pride and just say you're sorry for hurting her feelings."

Sasuke's face says otherwise, and Naruto realizes maybe he's hoped for too much in his little speech.

"Dad might be right, Uncle Sasuke." Boruto finally reveals himself, surprising the two men in the room. Boruto closes the door behind him and he leans against it. "It's not like Sarada to get irritated over anything." _That's a lie but..._ , "Anyway, it'll be awkward if there's bad blood between you guys for too long. I doubt she'll let it drop."

"Yeah. Just call her up and tell her to come home," Naruto urges.

Very rarely does the voice of reason come from an Uzumaki, much less two - and at the Sasuke Uchiha. "You guys are impossible," Sasuke dismisses defensively, leaving the room. Boruto and Naurto exchange knowing glances, and just silently agree - Sasuke is a butt.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"So what are you doing here, Ms. Haruno?" Ino asks, tilting her head onto her resting hand.

Little did I know that I've cornered myself. Perhaps Ino is super cool, and super chill. Perhaps she used to be my mom's best friend, and can tell me all these cool stories - but I've forgotten one crucial thing: I have a secret that totally needs to be kept secret. And depending on Ino's motives... she can totally be an adversary in this situation.

And here we are, sipping tea. No Sasuke. No Naruto. No Boruto. No way out.

"What am I doing here?" I repeat, trying to remain calm. There's so much sweat in my hands. "I... uh-"

"Mom?" Inojin opens the studio doors, holding a basket. "Do you have any more markers-" He spots me in the chair opposite his mother. "Well what do you know. Hey Sarada."

"H-Hi Inojin." What perfect timing.

"I see you're finally awake, sleepy head," Ino laughs as the boy enters the room and comes over to the table.

"I didn't know you were coming over," Inojin says to me. "Hey, do you wanna see my room? It's a lot cleaner the Boruto's I promise."

Hearing the word 'promise' inherently reminds me of Sasuke, and momentarily annoys me. But I also realize Inojin is totally giving me a get-out-of-jail-free card. "Sure!"

"Go ahead. I'll call you guys down for lunch later," Ino bids as Inojin and I run out of the room.

Once we're out of hearing range from the door, I allow myself to start normally breathing again. I swear I was holding it for a while when Ino started interrogating me. "Thanks for the save, Inojin."

"No problem. I didn't even know I was saving you," he smiles. "So what are you doing here?"

"I got into a fight with Sasuke, so your mom invited me over to get away for a little bit," I explain, finally glad to be able to rant to somebody about Sasuke, even for a half a sentence. "A-Anyway, I hope you don't mind my sudden visiting. I won't be staying for too long."

"Not at all. Stay as long as you like," Inojin smiles. Well, this could be interesting. "How's Boruto?"

"That guy? He's kinda grumpy today. Not sure why," I note. "I guess he didn't sleep well."

"That's just Boruto," Inojin shrugs off for me. Eventually we reach Inojin's room, and the inside totally looks like a rich-boy's room. Although a lot cleaner like he said, if not more organized. Definitely an artist's room, by all the art supplies and the corner work space with papers strung up on one section of the walls.

"Whoa," I gap at first.

"Impressive isn't it?"

"Haha yeah. Boruto's definitely not this organized. Then again, I'm sure he'd love a room this big, though." I walk more into the room. "Your bed's a lot nicer than the one I have at the mansion. "

"Of course," he says in that Inojin way.

I sit down on his bed and just look around from there. "Say, can I ask you for some advice?"

"Of course," Inojin says, sitting at his desk. "What about?"

"It's about Sasuke," I frown. "He and I got into a fight at breakfast. We were gonna hang out today, just the two of us, and he kinda bailed for work."

"That's too bad," Inojin sympathizes. "Does he do this often?"

"We've never had one-on-one time before outside the mansion, but I imagine this must be what it's like for you guys too with all your parents." Inojin nods, and I realize I probably shouldn't complain because this must be pretty common. "It's just... he promised me yesterday, and I guess I got so excited that I just, blew up at him the next morning."

"So you're angry because he broke his promise?"

"A little," I admit, realizing I'm probably not as angry as I was before. "I'm more upset that he kinda forgot he promised."

"Ooh," Inojin sympathetically winces. "That's harsh. Are you and Sasuke close?"

"Not particularly," I admit, somewhat shamefully. "I guess we're trying but, it's going pretty slow. Heh, sounds pretty silly getting upset over someone who doesn't really care, huh?"

"No, I don't think it's stupid at all," Inojin says, surprising me. "I think your feelings are legitimate and that it's healthy to talk about it."

"Yeah..." I breathe out. "Thank you, for listening. I really appreciate it. It's kind of hard to talk about this kind of stuff back at the mansion."

"You have a lot of people at your place to talk to, though," he points out. "You have Boruto, and his parents, if not Sasuke."

"Sure but, it's hard to talk about at home because of..." all the secrets? It's been draining keeping the whole I'm Sasuke's daughter thing under wraps. Things will frustrate me and I can't talk about them to anybody in that house, without risking my identity being discovered and ruining everything. "... just because."

"Not even to Boruto?" he arches his eyebrow. "You guys have been getting pretty close."

"I would but, there's some things I can't talk about even with Boruto," I explain, and suddenly Inojin recalls last night's online chat with the guys. "Just some girl things, honest."

"I understand."

As we sit here, I come to appreciate Inojin as a friend. Despite his awkward tendencies to say insensitive things, he's a pretty good listener.

"For a second I thought it was because you might like Boruto that it's hard to talk to him."

Insert record scratch. "Whoa hey, wait a second. Boruto's just like that annoying bratty roommate. Don't get me wrong. I'd love to talk to Boruto about this stuff and open up about what's bothering me whenever I want instead of keeping it all gutted up, but I have my reasons."

Suddenly I can see what Boruto means by fishy. Inojin wonders if he should interrogate a little too, but he also knows it's not his place. "Well I'm happy to know you can open up here at least."

A knock on the door from Ino ends our talk. "Lunch guys!"

* * *

Hi readers! Thank you for your patience in waiting for these chapters to come out! I've been drawing so much for work lately in and out of town, and inbetween my art job and second job, writing these chapters out have become a little harder to get to, but they're always fun to come back to and revise! And watching the new Boruto episodes is always a revitalizing motivator! I do some chapters in advance so it's not too long in between updates!

I hope you guys enjoy! Thank you for reading!

 ** _PREVIEW:_**

 ** _"Let's make a bet," Ino smirks._** ** _I arch a brow, showing my interest._** ** _"A game of basketball. If I win, I tell Sasuke everything and we arrange for you to go back home. If you win, your secret stays secret."_**

 ** _x-x-x-x_**

 ** _"You already cancelled the mayor's meeting because of your butt-hurt mood! If you're gonna stay home then just call up Ino and fix things with Sarada!"_**

 ** _"What the hell did you do, Uncle Sasuke?" Boruto laughs._**

 _ **"I don't know!" Sasuke says ridiculously.**_

 _ **Suddenly, the telephone in Naruto's hands starts to ring out loud, startling everyone present. Boruto looks up, Naruto almost falls off his squatting position, and Sasuke is sitting up eyes wide. The two men look at each other and Sasuke answers right away. "Sasuke Uchiha speaking," he says as professionally as possible.**_

 ** _"Sasuke?" my timid voice rings._**

 ** _His head jumps. "Sarada?"_**

 ** _x-x-x-x_**

 ** _"But why? Why did you have to win so badly?" Boruto frowns with his arms crossed._**

 ** _"Why can't you just drop it? Can't you see I'm broken and exhausted?"_**

 ** _"Because you're obviously hiding stuff and keeping secrets, and it's kind of getting carried away," Boruto says out of concern. "I never took you for the reckless type either. Clumsy but not reckless."_**

 ** _"Is there a difference?"_**

 ** _"Yeah. Because now it's to the point where you're hurting yourself," Boruto says, his arm pointing to my wrapped up foot. He shakes his head at me. "What's up with you?"_**


	8. Game's Checkmate Pt2

**Chapter 8: Game's Checkmate Pt.2**

 ** _When Sasuke forgets a promise he made to Sarada, upset she decides to spend a day out with the Ino at her place for some well-over-due girl time. What is supposed to be a relaxing getaway for Sarada turns into crucial meet up with Sakura's past. Even more so, her secret of being Sasuke's daughter is at risk of being let out. Meanwhile, Boruto and Inojin's friendly rivalry turns into competitive jealousy on Boruto's end._**

* * *

Downstairs, we're in the kitchen and Ino's made us some spaghetti. Well, fancy spaghetti at least. Their kitchen ware is so fancy compared to back home with Mom or Karin when they'd make me spaghetti or pasta. Inojin and I were setting up the table as Ino finished up cooking the sauce.

When the doorbell rings, Ino turns off the stove. "Hey Inojin, would you mind getting the door? It might be my package."

"Sure."

He sets down the plates with me and leaves us alone. My nervousness settles in again. I return near Ino to retrieve the utensils from the drawer beside her. "Please don't tell anyone about me," I say in a low voice, keeping my eyes down. "It'll ruin everything if Sasuke finds out who I am."

"Personally, I urge you to go back home to Sakura's."

 _What?_ "What?!" I did not see that coming. "B-But why?"

"Just think about it Sarada. Do you even have a real plan?" she asks seriously, turning towards me. "Look. You're a smart girl. You have to be to have gotten here, I'm sure. But you can't let your emotions get in the way of common sense here."

"I am using common sense," I try to persuade. "I had a whole plan and everything to come here, find my dad, t-try to get to know him and-"

"And what."

My mouth runs dry. I've been asked this before and could never finish the conversation.

"Look. The idea of inserting yourself into the Uchiha Mansion? Fine. You did it, somehow. Bonding with Sasuke sounds pretty hard and far fetched, even now I'm sure. But once you do one day, then what?" Ino points out. "Are you just gonna leave and deal with the fact you'll never have it the same again? Does your mom even know you're out here?"

My cheesy grin answers it all, and Ino blows some hair out of her face. "Please don't tell anybody, Ino. I'm begging you." I fold my hands together. "I've been dreaming my whole life of meeting my dad. And I'm finally on track with it. I don't know what the end goal is but right now, but I just want to learn how to love my dad. At least for now, I don't think I need to know where I'm ending up to love my father."

Ino stares me down hard, and I can tell by now she just wants what's best for me, like any real adult would. "Hey Mom! Where do you want the package!" Inojin yells from out the kitchen.

"My room!" Ino yells back out. Wow she's loud. While she's looking out, I can see her peering at the window. I follow her eyes, and see a basketball court looking down into a private indoor basketball court in a lower floor. "Let's make a bet," Ino smirks.

I arch a brow, showing my interest.

"A game of basketball. If I win, I tell Sasuke everything and we arrange for you to go back home. If you win, your secret stays secret."

"Do I have a choice," I frown. Ino's cunning. I'll give her that. Nosy too. "Alright. Deal." _Hey wait a minute_. "Wait that's no fair. You're probably some super star basketball veteran. I've only ever played in gym class."

"You're right. Then we'll make this a parent-kid game. My Inojin and me, against you and Sasuke."

W.H.A.T. "Whhooooaaa wait. I don't think that's such a good idea."

"Really? I think it's pretty cool. What better way to prove you can do what you're trying to do than some father-daughter basketball?"

It's not that. Things right now with Sasuke and I are pretty rocky. Asking him to come out of his way, much less for a game of basketball, is just, ludicrous. Does Sasuke even know how to PLAY basketball?

Ino pushes her home phone towards me from the counter. Another check mate. "Game?"

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Just call her!" Naruto argues, now squatting on Sasuke's desk with a phone as Sasuke sits in his chair, adamant about getting back to work.

"For the last time, Naruto, no!" Sasuke screams back.

Boruto sits in a leather chair in the office. If he was gonna lounge and play video games, he liked being around the noise than in a quiet place like his room.

"Being a father-figure means knowing when to apologize even when you don't have to!"

"What the hell kind of rule is that?!"

"You'd both be very dopey fathers," Boruto mutters, watching rather embarrassed as the two grown men yell like children. It's been going on for a few hours. Even the maids delivering snacks to Boruto in the office are intrigued by how long the yelling has gone on for.

"And get off my desk!"

"You already cancelled the mayor's meeting because of your butt-hurt mood! If you're gonna stay home then just call up Ino and fix things with Sarada!"

"What the hell did you do, Uncle Sasuke?" Boruto laughs.

"I don't know!" Sasuke says ridiculously.

And then, like a really late received text, a memory replays in Sasuke's head of the day before, and planning a hang out. That much he vaguely remembered, but he used the word promise. Not that he cares about small details like that, but Sasuke has a feeling that could be what this whole ordeal is about.

Sasuke bangs his head into his desk, totally drained. "This is ridiculous." _Maybe I should apologize to the kid._

Suddenly, the telephone in Naruto's hands starts to ring out loud, startling everyone present. Boruto looks up, Naruto almost falls off his squatting position, and Sasuke is sitting up eyes wide. The two men look at each other and Sasuke answers right away. "Sasuke Uchiha speaking," he says as professionally as possible.

"Sasuke?" my timid voice rings.

His head jumps. "Sarada?"

"Yeah, it's me," I say, sitting at the kitchen table with Inojin and Ino. "Um... about this morning? I'm sorry for the way I acted. I didn't mean to be so rude to you."

"What's she saying?" Naruto whispers, leaning a little too close to Sasuke's face. Sasuke merely palms Naruto's face, which tips Naruto over and he falls right off the desk. Boruto watches the epic fall, and listens in curiously over Sasuke's call.

"I just, got mad and-"

"No, you had the right to be mad at me," Sasuke cuts off. I can't believe it. Is he really saying this? "I promised you yesterday to take you out. Not only did I disregard it, but I completely forgot. And that's inexcusable."

This is totally a new layer of Sasuke's personality. "Wow, uh... I never took you as the kind of guy to hold promises so highly."

"I normally don't," Sasuke admits straightforwardly. "But... I feel like it matters more to you so... I should." There's a warmness in my face. Is it weird to say I'm proud of Sasuke for, apologizing? "So, are we okay?"

"Yes, we're okay," I smile. Ino and Inojin smile at me as well, happy the call went through. "But I have a favor to ask."

"Oh?" Sasuke frowns. "What is it."

Somehow I'm more nervous about bringing this up than apologizing. "I need some help. Could you come over to Ino's?" I ask slowly, realizing how weird it must sound. "It's-"

"I'll be there," Sasuke responds calmly. "Ino's right?"

Boruto shoots his head up. "Sarada's at Inojin's?"

I nod my head for Sasuke, even though he can't see. "Yeah. I can explain-"

"You don't have to," Sasuke settles. "Explain it to me when I get there. I'm coming because you asked." Hearing that makes me smile.

Naruto sits up at the foot of Sasuke's desk and grins stupidly at his business partner. Boruto narrows his eyes, shutting off his game. There's this unexplainable and impractical fury Boruto feels, and his only instinct right now is to get over there. Pronto.

"Yeah... Uh-huh. Alright. I'll be there in twenty minutes. Goodbye." Sasuke hangs up the phone and Naruto stands up confidently.

"So did you and Sarada make up?"

"Yes, Naruto," Sasuke sighs. "Get a car ready. I'm heading over to Ino's for a little bit."

"Huh?" Naruto blinks. Sasuke passes Naruto. "What for?"

"Wait Sasuke!" Boruto tugs at the man's sleeve before he passes the door. "Can I come with you? Please?" Sasuke's confused look clearly shows, but Boruto looks adamant about his request.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Ino and Inojin leads me down an elevator to a floor level below the house. Now, their mansion may not look as ridiculously extravagant in the upper two floors, but it's here I realize that it's the lower first floor where all that is. According to a little map guide in the elevator Inojin pointed out to me, the first floor is where the bar-lounge is, the indoor movie theater, the friggen basketball court with high windows so you can see it from the second floor, and a bowling alley. God.

Ino turns on the lights in the courts, and one by one they illuminate all the way down, like stage lights. My eyes brighten at how much bigger it looks from standing in it. It's like a ginormous school gym.

At that moment I can just imagine my teenage mother playing as professionally as TV players do. I didn't even know if she was good - but it was definitely cool to know.

"Impressive huh?" Inojin grins.

"Yeah..." I stare. Not even the park basketball courts back home were this big. "This is pretty sweet."

"Take it in. This is where you, Sasuke, and us are gonna be playing," Ino says as she heads to the side rack with a bunch of basketballs on it. I watch her pick one up, dribble it impressively, and then spins it on her finger. And as cool as that looked - I'm. fucked.

I start praying to god that Sasuke can at least hold his own in a game. "Show off," Inojin laughs as we watch his mom. "Why are we playing against Sarada and Sasuke again?"

"Just a little game between friends," Ino smiles, winking at me. I smile nervously, as the seriousness of this small pick up game sinks in.

Meanwhile, we hear a door bell echo throughout the gym. Ino finally stops spinning the ball and holds it under her arm. "I'll go up and get that. You guys can stay here and warm up, kay?"

She tosses me the ball, which I catch with ease luckily, not that it means much to my skills. Or lack thereof. Inojin turns to me. "Why so nervous? Ligthen up. Like my mom said, it's just a friendly game."

"It's not just that," I sigh out, trying to practice dribbling the ball at least. "It's about seeing Sasuke."

"I thought you guys made up on the phone?"

"We did," I smile. "But, I told him we'd talk once we met up in person. I don't know exactly how to go about it. I've been trying to rehearse it in my head but I've just been blinking out"

Inojin holds up his hands for the ball, and I toss it over to him. He practices dribbling as well, quite more impressively than me. "Don't worry about it too much. Some things just aren't meant to be rehearsed. Especially stuff with family." He tosses the ball towards me, and then starts coming towards me. Instinctively I try to keep the ball away from him. "Sometimes, things just happen and it'll all have to come from the heart what you say. Stuff like that can't be rehearsed in your head all perfect."

"I guess so," I smile, easily keeping the ball away from him.

"The kids are in here," Ino introduces, showing Boruto and Sasuke through the gym doors. The echo of a dribbling basketball echoes within the walls, and Boruto's first sight is Inojin and me playing keep away with the ball. Inevitably his eyes narrow.

I see the group over Inojin's shoulder and drop the ball. "Sasuke!" I grin. Wait. "Boruto?"

"Boruto?" Inojin repeats, turning around to see them coming up. "Well isn't this a pleasant surprise."

All of us meet at in the middle of the court, with me holding the basketball in hand. "I didn't know you play," Sasuke mentions down to me.

"I don't," I admit cheesily. Ino winks at me one more time and notions for Inojin to follow her. The two of them walk away to take care of something and leaves me alone with the new visitors.

"So why'd Ino take us to a gym?" Boruto speaks up.

"It's a long story," I grin, not even sure where to begin. No rehearsal my ass. How the hell do you come up with a smooth conversation starter in this station. "Look, it's hard to explain, but Ino and Inojin are gonna be playing a basketball game. Against me."

"Against _you_ ," Boruto repeats in stare with Sasuke, who looks just as surprised.

"And Sasuke." Oh my god Sasuke's face.

"And _him_?" Boruto points.

It takes a moment, but Sasuke's expression settles back down rather quickly. "Alright then," Sasuke replies, causing Boruto and I to look back up at him in the final shocker of the day. How can he be so calm?

"Really?" I ask, a little too loudly. "A-Are you sure, Sasuke?"

"Yeah I didn't know you play," Boruto says skeptically.

"I played a little bit back in the day," Sasuke says, taking the basketball out of my arms. He does a couple dribbles and then shoots it across the court into a nearby basket. A rimless shot straight in, and I can't believe what I just saw. Boruto I just stare, open mouthed. "I'm assuming you'd like to win," Sasuke says plainly.

Oh so desperately. "I-It'd be nice."

"If it's just a game then that I can do," Sasuke assures. "Besides, I'm sure a small pick up game will be enough to make up for us missing out going to the park."

"It would, actually," I realize. Not thinking about the stakes of the game, playing a sport with my dad has been one of my dreams growing up. "So, uh, are we cool?"

"I should be the one asking you that," Sasuke says, passing by and ruffling my hair. "I'll go tell Ino the game's on. I'll be right back."

Once Sasuke's out of hearing range, I'm left alone with Boruto, who looks to be in a pretty sour mood. "And what's with you? I didn't know you were coming."

"Sorry for interrupting yours and Inojin's buddy-buddy time. Didn't know I'd be intruding."

Hearing Boruto sound so grouchy, as used to it as I was, it felt out of place here. "Well you're not intruding. I'm pretty glad you're here actually."

"You are?" he asks, relaxing his shoulders a bit.

I nod, my smile fading away into uncertainty. "To be honest, I really need to win this game. If I don't-..."

Boruto sees me bite my lip. "'If you don't' what?"

I want to tell Boruto, but I have to remember how important it is that the less people know my secret the better. Ino knows and look what situation I've gotten myself into.

Boruto's expression looks tired as I search for the words. I can credit him knowing there's an obvious secret, but he seems to respect it enough to understand when to leave it alone. Boruto sighs, clearly exhausted with this secrecy ordeal again. "Well, hopefully you and Sasuke can keep up with each other on the court. I'll be watching from the sidelines cheering you on, okay?" He gives me a confident smile. "Kick Inojin's ass for me."

"Thanks, Boruto," I smile gratefully.

"Yo Sarada!" Ino calls over. "Let's get this game started!" Inojin stands beside his mom, and Sasuke on her other side. Oh my gosh this is really happening.

Boruto turns his back to leave for the bleachers. "Don't lose, stalker."

The game commences quickly, and surprisingly enough, playing isn't as hard as I thought it would be. A few rules had to be whispered to me throughout by Sasuke, but he seemed competent enough in the game to carry us both. Ino, on the other hand, was pretty good. She was not holding back, but neither was Sasuke.

The score seemed to tie often, with twenty minutes going from the clock at the start. Shooting baskets wasn't particularly my specialty, but according to Sasuke I was pretty fast and agile, and good ad keeping the ball away from Inojin and his mom. Much of the time, I'd be passing the ball over to Sasuke who had this ability to miraculously score a basket from any point in the court.

But one of my favorite baskets was when Sasuke lifted me up and let me throw the ball in - and it did in fact go in.

It's still a tie in the last half of the game, and I feel confident that Sasuke and I can push ahead.

However midway in the game I feel a sharp pain in my ankle, and the next thing I know, I'm bracing myself for a fall with the floor holding my arms in front of my face. I roll to a stop, but I can tell there's something totally wrong with my ankle.

Inojin stops his run and sees me on the floor, not getting up. "Time out! Time out!" He calls to the grown ups, waving his arm.

Boruto's still seated pretty far in the bleachers, but straightens his posture as he notices what's going on. He watches as the others come running to me.

I try to sit up, but there's this odd feeling in my ankle. I'm almost afraid to turn it, much less hold it or stand on it. _It hurts..._ "Sarada, honey, are you alright?" Ino kneels first, her gentle hands running through my hair and the other supporting my back.

Sasuke takes a careful look at my ankle. "Can you stand?"

I shake my head, totally knowing how much that's going to hurt. The small movements my body already makes hurt it a little.

Sasuke sighs. He'd gotten a lot more into the game than he initially thought he would. "Guess it's game over for now. You can't play like this."

"Guess this means we win then," Inojin jokes, trying to lighten the mood.

"What wait," I hold on. "I-I can still play. Just give me a few minutes and-"

"No way. You twisted your ankle," Sasuke frowns. "You need to go lay down and ice this before it gets any worse."

"B-But..." Does this mean I lose? Does this mean Ino is going to tell my father about me? And my mom? I can't believe I tripped here of all times.

"Wait!" Boruto yells, coming up from across the court. He finally makes it to the group and joins the circle standing over me. My eyes had started watering earlier from the pain, but it feels somewhat degrading for Boruto to see me like this. There's this pleading or begging glint in my eye. A look of desperatality. It's almost too hard for Boruto to look at. "Let me take her place," Boruto speaks up.

"Seriously?" Inojin frowns. "Now?"

"Game's still tied right?" Boruto goes along. "Besides, Sarada and I made a bet earlier if she and Sasuke could win, then I'd get her to clean my room for a week."

"I never said that," I pout instantly.

"Uh yeah you did," Boruto grins slyly, with a face that says ' _don't argue with me_ '. The boy looks up at the Uchiha. "So what about it Sasuke? Me and you against Ino and Inojin?"

I look up at Sasuke too, hoping he'll entertain this basketball idea a little longer. Would this count as a win if Boruto took my place? Ino's smiling, probably really amused by this turn of events. "Let's get this over with," Sasuke finally gives. "The sooner we finish up this game I can get Sarada back to the mansion to get checked out."

The boys end up helping me over to the bleachers and getting an ice pack for my foot. "Here," Boruto adds. He removes his jacket too and carefully groups it together as a makeshift pillow-leveler for my leg. Carefully he and Inojin work to put my ankle up on his jacket, and we rest the ice over the temporary bandages.

"Hold this here. I'll make this a quick game," Inojin smiles.

Boruto scoffs, still somewhat irritated by the guy. "Yeah by losing fast enough."

"We'll see about that," Inojin laughs as the two boys run to the center of the court to meet with Ino.

Meanwhile Sasuke passes them and comes up beside me. He's holding out a bottle of water to me.

Wordlessly I take the bottle as he sits beside me. "Sorry I fell," I apologize, drinking the water unenthusiastic ally. "I should've known me being such a klutz would make me a bad basketball player."

"Don't shoot yourself down so hard. You weren't that bad," Sasuke says.

"You're just saying that to make me feel better."

"I am," he admits plainly. Wow. "But I also don't sugarcoat. You were good." Seriously? "You're a fast learner."

"Ooh. A compliment from Sasuke Uchiha. How enthralling," I humor, managing to earn a smile out of him too. "Thank you."

"Plus this is kind of fun," Sasuke also admits, surprising me, and probably himself. "I can't remember the last time I played basketball. It must've been years."

"I didn't even know you could play. You don't look like the type."

"Good," he chuckles. "Alright, I'll finish this up and we'll head back home."

"Okay," I smile as he leaves me on the bleachers. Home. That mansion, as ridiculous as it is, I guess it really is home. "Good luck," I say halfheartedly.

I'd be lying if I said I was okay with Boruto taking my place. I'd wanted to win my first basketball game with my dad, but I'll have to settle for this. In the end, what's important is that we beat Ino and Inojin. I should be grateful Sasuke came at all, and even more so that Boruto volunteered to take my place. Chouchou wouldn't believe it either if she were here.

Anyway, sitting on the sidelines gives me a whole new viewpoint on the game. Boruto's actually not bad, and syncs up with Sasuke pretty well. And actually seeing Ino play, she's a beautiful, strong, and fast woman. It makes me wonder what Mom must have been like. I can't imagine her playing basketball either, much less being good at it.

And yet, the thought of Sasuke and Boruto both playing their bestfor my sake, it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"WHOOoOOOooo!" Boruto screams, banging the basketball to the ground. "WINNERS!"

Sasuke, Ino, and Inojin are left around the court, panting. Oh my god we won. "You're just energetic because you only started playing the last half," Inojin blames, catching his breath.

"Whatever, I still beat you," Boruto rubs in. The two end up in a stare off before grinning and Boruto helping Inojin up.

"Well you took that a lot more serious than I thought you would," Ino commends to Sasuke.

"Shut up," Sasuke frowns, not used to letting people see him so physically exhausted. In the sidelines everyone can hear a faint clapping. I sit there on the bleachers, foot still raised and iced, but grinning wide and clapping.

"You've got a fan," Ino congratulates.

"That was so cool!" I scream at the top of my lungs, so they can hear it all the way in the middle of the court. I keep clapping, even thought it hurts from how long I've been going. "You guys were all amazing!" I call out.

"Look Boruto she's cheering for me," Inojin teases. "Jealous?"

"Shut your mouth," Boruto's irked extended pout shows. Inojin just laughs at the blond.

Inojin stands up straighter, stretching his back. "Ah whatever. I know everything I need to know now."

"Huh?"

"You two would make a pretty cute couple one day."

"W-Where the hell is that coming from?" Boruto reddens. What the hell is up with this guy? First he's the most annoying bastard in the world and now this? "I thought you liked Sarada."

"Nah. I don't like her that way. I just liked testing some waters with you," Inojin mentions. "She makes you tick, and I was just curious why. Like I said, it's not often a girl grabs your attention."

"I don't like her if that's what you're saying," Boruto denies, trying to keep face. Of course, Inojin says nothing.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Thanks for letting me visit today, Ino," I say with a respectful head bow. We're all standing outside their place, with Sasuke's driver waiting for us. We're all saying our goodbyes. Ino had lent me some crutches to borrow until my ankle has healed. "I had a lot of fun today."

"Me too," Ino grins with crossed arms.

"Oh," I remember, almost forgetting. After balancing my underarms on my crutches, I try to remove the golden bracelet she'd shown me earlier in the day. I almost took off wearing it.

"Keep it," Ino denies, shaking her hand before I can unclasp the trinket. "It's yours, anyway. And you earned it," she winks. The idea of keeping something I had when I was a baby makes me happy. Instead of questioning it, I nod again in thanks.

"Let's go home already," Sasuke hurries, cuing Boruto to help me into the back of the car. "Thanks for watching the kid, Ino. I'll have Hinata send you something later."

"Don't worry about it, Uchiha."

"Come visit again soon, Sarada!" Inojin calls beside his mother.

"Will do!" I say through the window, while Boruto makes an obvious glare at his friend behind me. Once Sasuke gets in, our driver takes off and Inojin and Ino wave from the sidewalk. It's already almost past sunset. I hadn't noticed how late it was already. Must've been a long day.

"My mom's gonna lose it when she sees you, haha," Boruto says during the drive. Oh man, and stairs. Why does the whole mansion have to run on stairs?

"Help her to her room once we get back," Sasuke orders from the front passenger seat.

Despite the authority in Sasuke's voice, the gestue was pretty surprising to hear, to both me and Boruto. "Of course," Boruto recovers.

"And you," Sasuke adds. He turns his head around to look at me, holding my crutches over our laps. "Once Boruto brings you to your room, stay off your foot. I'll have the maids bring you dinner tonight. And don't even think of going down to breakfast tomorrow. I'll have a meal brought up to you, and then we'll take you to the hospital for an x-ray."

Whoa. "I'm sure I'm fine, Sasuke. I doubt my ankle's that messed up that I need to go get an x-ray."

"Just to be safe," Sasuke says. He sounds a bit bossy, but it's nice to hear him all concerned. It's almost funny, and sweet.

We get to the mansion in no time, and of course Naruto and Hinata happen to be passing through the ballroom together when we come through the door with me in crutches. Hinata gets unusually spirited and starts asking me all these questions in a panic. It reminds me of Karin actually - which reminds me I should be preparing a post card tonight.

"Boruto take her up, will you?" Sasuke asks as a maid takes Sasuke's sweater. "Hinata, I know you and Naruto just finished dinner but can you make something for Sarada?"

"Of course," Hinata hurries. That motherly instinct is something fearsome I swear.

Boruto follows me slowly until we reach the stairs, and he helps me up one step at a time. "Thank god I'm just on the second floor," I say.

"If you were on the third floor I'd leave you," Boruto comments, making me shove him in humor.

Naruto whistles, coming up closer to his best friend. "What happened? Where'd you go?"

"We were playing basketball. She twisted her ankle."

You can almost hear Naruto's eyes crack. "'We'?" Naruto repeats loudly, and Sasuke can already tell he messed up. Regretfully. "YOU played BASKETBALL?" Naruto screams. " _YOU PLAY?_?"

Sasuke sighs. "Yes, Naruto. I know how to play basketball."

"The fuck _SINCE WHEN_!?"

"It's late. I'm going to bed," Sasuke ends, going around Naruto.

"O-O-O-Oi! I'm not done here yet! When did you learn?! H-How long have you known how to play?! Did you teach Sarada!? Hey!" Naruto gives chase to the exhausted Uchiha, echoing down the mansion halls.

Meanwhile Boruto and I finally reach my room. The second I limp over to my bed, I toss my crutches to the floor and let my torso fall back in exhaustion. Finally lying down after all that walking feels heavenly. "I never knew using crutches could be so tiresome," I complain. "It was even more work than the basketball game," I mutter in the end.

"You should be more careful next time," Boruto says in a rather scolding-like tone, catching me off guard. Not him too. "I never took you for the competitive type. You shouldn't have pushed yourself that hard. It was just a game you know."

"I don't need a lecture from you of all people," I sigh. I hope Boruto just leaves.

"Seriously. I don't like saying this but you're smart," Boruto tries to tell me. "You should've known being that tired and dehydrated would've led to an accident like this. Why didn't you stop when Inojin told you to?"

"I just had to win," I reply, keeping my gaze to the ceiling.

"But why? Why did you have to win so badly?" Boruto frowns with his arms crossed.

"Why can't you just drop it? Can't you see I'm broken and exhausted?"

"Because you're obviously hiding stuff and keeping secrets, and it's kind of getting carried away now," Boruto says out of concern. He tries to calm down his interrogative tone. "I never took you for the reckless type either. Clumsy but not reckless."

"Is there a difference?"

"Yeah. Because now it's to the point where you're hurting yourself," Boruto says, his arm pointing to my foot. "What's up with you?" My conscience is telling me to just tell Boruto the truth. To tell him the reason I'm always acting so strange is because of Sasuke being my dad. But once I do that, there's no taking it back. "Why can't you just tell me?" he asks.

"It's just who I am," I try to muster out. Now I'm starting to feel guilty for making Boruto feel like I don't trust him. "It's how I do things. I don't want people needlessly involved."

"Is it serious?" Boruto tries. "What you're hiding?"

 _I don't know_. I sit up bravely with my arms supporting me. Boruto really does look concerned. _Damn. Am I an asshole_? I'd hate to inherit that trait from Sasuke. "We're friends, right?"

"I'd like to think so," he replies.

"Then because we're friends, you need to trust me enough to not ask questions," I argue. "If I say I can't tell you, then just know there's a good reason."

Boruto's eyebrows furrow disappointingly. "It's _because_ we're friends you should trust me enough to know I'll be on your side no matter what it is you're hiding."

And I am officially an asshole.

Dejected, Boruto turns around and leaves my room without saying any more words. How is it I won the argument, but I feel like such a loser. And a jerk. Boruto just went out of his way to help me win Ino's game and keep my secret. He'd definitely earned the right to know what's going on, right?

"No Sarada. Stay strong," I say to myself, trying to push my emotions back under. My brain says don't say a word. At least not yet.

Saying so makes me remember the word strength on that bracelet, which I'm still wearing. Seeing it on my wrist and how it just fits makes me wonder what it was like, when Ino gifted it to me as a baby in the hospital. How tiny was I when Mom held me? Where was Sasuke? Why didn't they stay together? Did Sasuke even know my mom was pregnant with me?

There's still so much I don't know. But now, I know they met in high school. What a cute story Ino told me. To try and stray from anxious thoughts, I daydream about how Mom and Dad met as high school sweethearts until I fall asleep.

* * *

 _Hey guys! Thanks again for reading this far and sticking with the story so far! And I appreciate the reviews you guys gave so far too! Any feedback is greatly appreciated and motivating!_

 ** _PREVIEW:_**

 _ **"Denki's dad has work overseas where you are coincidentally this weekend, and Denki, Iwabe and I managed to convince him to let us tag along. We booked a hotel in your area and we'll be flying over to Japan soon. We should be landing by Saturday. If you can read this, we'll be at the Leafville Hotel checking in by 11 am. We have room 310. We hope can see you soon girl! We miss you! And we're uber worried!**_

 ** _Luv,  
_** ** _Chouchou"_**

 **Oh my god.**

 **They're here.**

 **Like right fucking now.**

 **x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

 **"I'll follow her," Boruto volunteers solemnly, similar to Sasuke's tone. "Make sure she's out of trouble and whatever. Is that okay?"**

 **"That's definitely okay," both Sasuke and Naruto say at the same time, both clearly getting annoyed with their in sync thoughts. It does weird Boruto out a little bit, but the boy leaves his plate in the sink and runs out to catch up with me.**

 **"You care," Naruto grins with a pointing finger.**

 **And Sasuke's face is flat.**

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 **My heart skips a beat, and looking back all of us see Chouchou, Denki, and Iwabe standing in clear view right behind me. And Boruto and the guys in front of me. And I'm smack damn in the middle of it all, with both groups in an intimidating face off.**

 **I can't believe this.**


	9. Clashing Together Pt1

**Chapter 9: Collisions Pt.1**

 ** _An email from Chouchou says that she, Iwabe and Denki are coming to Japan to check on Sarada after a long period of unresponsive emails. Now Sarada has to find a way to entertain them without letting them find Sasuke. At the same time, Boruto is losing patience with Sarada's not letting him in on her secret. It doesn't get any easier when both groups of friends meet and don't get along. Will Sarada be able to play these charades long enough to hide her identity between both groups?_**

* * *

"And done." I lick the stamp and put it at the top right corner of Karin's post card. I hope each one of these bring some sort of ease to her about my whereabouts. I never leave an address for her to trace me back to, but it still eases my conscience somewhat.

As for my ankle, luckily it turned out to not be as serious as Sasuke thought it'd be. Just some bed rest and raising my foot while I slept, and I was able to walk on it in a few days. I'm all better by now. And even more so - Sasuke and I have been getting closer too. A lot less tension with him in general in the house for everybody. It's pretty refreshing.

"Hey kid," Sasuke's voice knocks. I look over my desk chair and see him leaning in from the door. "Breakfast's ready downstairs."

"I'll be right there," I smile, finishing up my stuff. He smiles back and heads down before me. After a few moments, a small solemn frown falls over me.

On the flip side, Boruto and I have been reduced to one word conversations if we ever cross paths in the mansion. Ever since our argument after the basketball game, things just fell really hard between us. He's been ignoring me more, and smiling a lot less with me. I try acting civil or asking what he's up to, but his answers all come out unenthusiastic and fast to leave.

To be honest it kind of sucks.

I sigh, leaning back in my chair, looking back at my open door. "Boruto's stopped waking me up for breakfast too," I realize. I never noticed how routine it became for him to wake me up some ridiculous way every morning and scream at me to come down for breakfast. As of lately it's always been a maid. And today, I guess I'm a little late and Sasuke came up to get me instead.

Is it bad when it's Sasuke having to come get me?

"Agh," I groan, running my hands through my hair. _Why is Boruto still frustrating even when he isn't talking to me?!_

I check my phone and realize how much time has passed since Sasuke came in actually, and I rush out. Downstairs in the kitchen, I see everyone already eating and Hinata just sitting down, having just served everybody. "Good morning!" I report, rushing to my chair.

"Sarada hey," Naruto laughs, mistaking my rushed entrance for food-eagerness. I see fruits and pancakes over my plate. "How's the ankle?"

"A lot better today thanks!" I smile.

"She helped me carry groceries yesterday," Hinata brags, also glad my foot is doing better.

"If it were up to me she'd still be in bed," Sasuke says, busy with business on his phone while he drinks his coffee.

"You're the worst," Naruto frowns almost comically. "If she had a paper cut you'd send her off to the emergency room at the rate you're going."

"And what's wrong with that," Sasuke says monotone, keeping his eyes to his phone.

The irked Naruto seems annoyed with Sasuke's passiveness. "And what the heck are you doing so glued to your phone anyway? It's breakfast, you know," he points with his fork.

"I'm replying to emails, dobe," Sasuke says.

As Sasuke and Naruto do their one-sided argument again, I look across at Boruto who's eating quietly to himself. He barely interacts with me if at all anymore during breakfast. I used to try making conversation before, but now it's almost sad trying. It's been this way for a week now.

Then I hear a ping from on my phone. After the ankle incident, Sasuke's been unusually overprotective and wound up buying me a temporary cell phone to use during my stay - that way he could check up on me during work. It's a little much sometimes, but I try to appreciate it.

Anyway I slide it under the table and check the message. It's my email reminding me I have 30 unread emails. How redundant. _Hm, that is a lot_. I've been pretty busy though so I guess I haven't run through them as often as I used to. _I better check these._

Hinata seems to notice the air around our side of the table anyway, and goes to elbow her son. "Are you and Sarada okay?" she whispers.

"We're fine," Boruto replies, continuing to eat.

I click through my emails as discretely as I can over my phone, under the table. About half of them are junk email, but the other half are coming from my friends at home. From Chouchou. From Denki. Even Iwabe. Multiples from them. Agh, I should've been checking my emails. They must be worried sick without getting a reply this long.

Meanwhile Naruto and Sasuke's arguement seems to be filling in the silence. "Why can't you just relax like the rest of us for once when we're at the table?!" Naruto goes on.

"You guys should be lucky I'm even here to begin with. I could easily be doing this from the peace of my office."

"YOU ARE SUCH AN AGGRAVATING ASSHOLE!"

Hinata rubs the bridge of her nose. Between her moody son and Sasuke and Naruto with their back and forth banter, this has slowly become the norm lately of breakfasts. It's not the worst in the world, but it is pretty rowdy. Poor Hinata.

"Hm?" Boruto can see small lights reflecting in my glasses looking down. _She's on her phone too?_

I tap the latest email my friends have sent me. It's a pretty long one compared to their usual. I arch my brows and zoom in to read more clearly. It's from Chouchou.

 _Hey Sarada,_

 _It's been over a week since we've heard from you last, and we're getting kind of worried. Denki's dad has over overseas where you are coincidentally this weekend, and Denki, Iwabe and I managed to convince him to let us tag along. We booked a hotel in your area and we'll be flying over to Japan soon. We should be landing by Saturday. If you can read this, we'll be at the Leafville Hotel checking in by 11 am. We have room 310. We hope can see you soon girl! We miss you! And we're uber worried!_

 _Luv,_  
 _Chouchou._

o

m

g

 _They're here._

 _Like, right fucking now._

"U-Um," I speak up automatically. Shit I opened my mouth before thinking of what I was gonna say. Somehow the quiet 'um' managed to catch everyone's attention, despite everything else going on at the table. "I-I, uh," I clear my throat, "I'm gonna head out today. I have plans."

"You have plans," Boruto repeats in disbelief.

"Yeah," I say defensively. Now he talks? "I just want to do some shopping, you know, go out and explore the town on my own. I've been around enough to know the streets by myself."

"No way," both Naruto and Sasuke say sternly together.

Oh come on. "Please?" I say. "I've been cooped up in the mansion all week waiting for my leg to heal. I'm desperate for some outside time. Besides, I can't remember the last time I had a good day out to myself."

"You're what, twelve?" Sasuke argues. "You're not going out alone."

"Boruto gets to," I argue, pointing at him. Naruto and Hinata quickly look at one another.

"You're not going out. End of discussion," Sasuke says calmly but strictly. With one more frown, I stuff my phone in my pocket and leave the table, taking my empty plate and glass with me and putting it in the sink. I take my leave and only hear silence in the background.

"Well that was pretty harsh," Hinata speaks up first after I leave. "And we do let Boruto out by himself. Why can't Sarada?"

Naruto bites his lip. "We-"

"It's different with her," Sasuke speaks over Naruto accidentally. "She's not from here. Even if she says she knows her way around already, I don't feel safe letting her out without a chaperone."

"Someone's pretty protective," Naruto teases, earning a predictable glare.

Hinata rolls her eyes and gets up, wiping her mouth with a cloth. "I'm gonna go talk to her." Hinata goes off and rushes behind me, leaving all the boys at the table.

"Smooth," Boruto mutters for the two adults, finishing his orange juice.

"Geez. I should've known Sasuke would've shot me down," I sigh, about to climb up the main stair case. I've gotta get out of here before Chouchou and the others find me.

"Wait!" Hinata calls faintly behind. I stop and see her coming up to me with a smile. She takes my hands, opens them, and puts a pouch into it and closing my hands around it. "Here's some money. You have my permission to go."

I blink as my glasses fall a bit. Is Hinata really doing this? "What?"

"I know what it's like to be a girl and cooped up for no real reason," Hinata smiles empathetically. "Besides, you've been patient enough with Sasuke's overprotective orders while you were healing. You deserve a day out and some adventure. No chaperone needed. I trust you."

"Hinata..." That's one of the nicest things anyone here has ever said to me.

"Just be back by 8:00 for dinner," Hinata compromises. "And keep your phone on you in case anything happens."

I rush into her with a hug. "Thank you thank you thank you thank you!"

"Haha," Hinata rubs my back. "Now go. Before Naruto and Sasuke catch you." I nod quietly and grinning before heading out the front door.

Meanwhile all the boys hear the front door open and close, and know full well Hinata must've let me out anyway. Sasuke can tell, but kind of just lets it be. Never before has he been so over protective of anybody, and his pride is trying to hide that fact for now.

As for Boruto, he picks at the last few bits of fruit on his plate. _She got a text or something from somewhere. She never has a particular reason for wanting to leave the mansion. And so suddenly._ The fork he's using to play with the fruit misses a grape. _Something's up. I'm gonna get to the bottom of this. Today._ "I can go watch her."

"Huh?" Naruto hears. Sasuke also finally looks away from his phone and paperwork and over to Boruto.

"I'll follow her," Boruto volunteers seriously, similar to Sasuke's tone. "Make sure she's out of trouble and whatever. Is that okay?"

"That's definitely okay," both Sasuke and Naruto say at the same time, both clearly getting annoyed with their in sync thoughts. It does weird Boruto out a little bit, but the boy leaves his plate in the sink and runs out to catch up with me.

"You care," Naruto grins with a pointing finger.

And Sasuke's face is flat.

Boruto appears at the front of the mansion, and can see me just running down the front pathway towards the gate. Boruto can see me from a distance, running for the bus stop. _Where the hell is she going in such a rush?_ And then it clicks. He recalls talking to me once, about why I'd come here in the first place. "Did she find that guy she was looking for?"

Boruto pulls out his phone and sends an emergency text to Mitsuki, Shikadai, and Inojin.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"I gotta get to those guys before any trouble comes up!" I pant in a panic. God I'm so out of shape. I make it to the bus stop that should take me downtown to their hotel. Man, and I was just going to relax and mope in my room all day. Who knows, maybe this will be better. I shouldn't have so much anxiety over seeing my friends. I should be happy.

But last I remember, Chouchou and the others think I found my dad. And I did. But they also think he and I get along great and we're catching up on all these lost years together like a happy reunited family. They don't know Sasuke doesn't recognize me. "What am I going to tell them?" I realize, sitting down on the bus stop bench.

Do I say the truth? Or just act like everything's okay for now? Whatever happens, when it comes down to it Sasuke CAN NOT know about any of this.

While I sit by myself, panicking over multitudes of hypotheticals, in the distance around a corner hides Boruto, Shikadai, Mitsuki and Inojin - all just watching. "Why are we doing this again?" Mitsuki asks.

"I'm tired of this girl's secrets," Boruto mutters, aggravated by the secrets. "She got a message or something during breakfast, and she's probably going to meet someone."

"She could possibly be going on a date, you know," Inojin frowns, having thought this was more serious.

"Jealous much?" Shikadai suggests, kind of amused.

"It's not a fucking date," Boruto argues in aggravation to his ridiculous friends.

"I didn't think she knew the area well enough to go out on her own," Mitsuki notes unbiased. "For all we know she could think she's going somewhere and be meeting up with all the wrong people."

"Ah, so we're following her because you're worried about her," Inojin gathers together.

 _I'm gonna seriously kill these guys._ "For the last time no! She's hiding shit and I'm gonna follow her and get down to the bottom of it!"

"You and your conspiracies," Shikadai sighs, shaking his head. "This is such a drag. We're gonna end up following her and it'll lead absolutely no where."

"Wait here comes her bus!" Inojin announces as one comes and I stand up to flag it down.

Boruto looks at the back sign of the bus to see it's destination. "It's going downtown."

"My driver's just across the street. Let's follow it," Mitsuki heeds, and the rest of the boys run across the street as I board the bus.

I hand the bus fare to the driver and go to take my seat. I can't remember the last time I was on a bus. Maybe back home, but that feels like a forever ago. At the same time it also feels like ages since I've seen my friends.

"Deep breath Sarada," I sigh. Try not to be so nerve wrecked about all the secrets. Just be happy you get to see a little taste of home again. Deep down, despite bonding with Sasuke and making new friends, I'll always feel a little homesick. "This will be a good day. This will be a good day."

The bus ride is fifteen minutes down a few streets of Japan. Being out alone like this is a little nerve wrecking, but it is a little freeing. I feel like a tourist almost. As my stop comes close, I hit the button to request my stop, and eventually I get off and smell the air. Such good food and vibes down here. It's the shopping district, and I remember this is where Boruto and I walked to for his birthday.

But just the thought of his face sends a short pang of guilt down.

"Forget about him for now," I say, shaking my head. I'll worry about fixing things between him and me after this ordeal with my friends is over. I see their place of stay in the distance and realize just how big the Leafville Hotel is. Wow. "Leave it to Denki's dad to find the best place to stay."

As I go to the crosswalk to get to the hotel, a parked car rolls down its windows, an it's Boruto and the boys all in the back seat with wide or squinted eyes. "A hotel," Mitsuki says, stating the obvious.

"She's meeting someone _there_?" Shikadai blinks in disbelief. "That's pretty weird."

"It's worse than I thought," Inojin agrees. "I guess Boruto really was onto something."

"Damn right I am," Boruto glares with a fist. "Let's go before we lose her."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

After going to the concierge and telling them I was here to visit, I gave the room number and got the approval to go up to them. The third floor. By the time I reach the floor and am walking down looking for the right room, I feel a knot in my chest.

 _Will they be happy to see me? Would they be angry? I still don't know what I'm going to tell them about my family situation._ I sigh out, getting closer to the number. "I can do this."

And then it's room 310. With one more deep breath I knock on the door. "Hello?" I call, knocking one more time. I hear foot steps and brace myself, but when it unlocks I'm met with a woman, with the deepest red eyes. Not what I was expecting either. "Hi," she grins. "You must be the girl the concierge called me up about."

"Uh," I blink. "Y-Yeah. Is um, this where Chouchou, Denki and Iwabe are staying?"

"Yup! They're out exploring downstairs in the lobby. They left right before you called up," she grins. "I'm Mirai, Denki's dad hired me to be their chaperone. If you go down you should run into them eventually."

"Great! Thank you!" I say with a bow before running off.

So they are here! And they're so close. Instead of the stairs I go into the glass tube elevator. It would be much faster. However my excitement of meeting them dies quickly when I look back through the glass and I see the lobby coming slowly into view below. I try to look for Chouchou and the guys, but instead in a clump I catch Boruto, Mitsuki, shikadai and Inojin. ALL in a group, talking and looking around.

Oho.

Oh ho no no no no no no no no.

"Oh my god what are those guys doing here?!" I panic as the elevator reaches lower and lower. My hands rest on the back glass as I lose track of Boruto and his gang. I need to find Chouchou, Denki and Iwabe. Now. Before the guys do.

But they can't catch me.

Or Chouchou and the guys can't.

Agh. "This is, going to be so much more trouble than it was supposed to be," I say clutching my head.

The elevator bell dings, and it opens for me as I sprint right out. I try to hide within the crowd while at the same time trying to find my friends and keep away from Boruto and the others. Yeah. That's the plan.

"Sarada?" Shikadai speaks up some feet behind me. Are you kidding me.

I look back and see just him, with the boys facing other directions. My eyes widen and I sprint away into the crowd. I overhear him telling Boruto he saw me before their voices blur out. "Chouchou!" I call loudly but quietly, if that makes any sense. "Iwabe! Denki!"

I see a tall hat-wearing kid, and from behind I immediately recognize him as Iwabe. "Iwabe!" I call out, running to him.

The guy turns around and sees me immediately throughout the people. "Sarada!" he grins in excitement. His arms are open for a bro-shake and hug bug I grab his arm and immediately tug him into a run instead. "What hey what's the rush?"

"We gotta find Denki and Chouchou where are they?"

"They're around somewhere-"

"Awesome! I see them across the room!"

"Why are we running?" Iwabe tries to say, tugging me to a stop and turning me around. "Do you have any idea how worried we've been about you? Are we hiding from somebody?"

Sort of. "I'll explain later, just keep your head down," I say, shoving his head down with my hand and pulling him along again.

"I saw her with a guy just now!" Inojin tells the guys as they wave through the crowd together. "They went that way."

"I'm gonna get her now," Boruto says competitively, leading his troop through.

Chouchou and Denki are sitting in the center of the lobby on some couches, and I manage to drag Iwabe all the way over in peace. "You guys!" I call.

"Sarada?" Denki realizes, but I'm already caught in this massive hug by Chouchou.

"Girl you had me worried sick!" Chouchou exclaims, waddling in our hug from side to side. I can't help but laugh and hug her back too. "Oh my god look at your clothes! And you smell like rich people!"

"Haha! You smell good too Chouchou," I laugh, finally parting from her. "Oh my gosh I can't believe you guys are really here."

"Same to you," Iwabe says seriously. "Guess you actually made it to Japan after all."

"We were wondering about you a lot," Denki says from the couch. He goes on to say more, but I already see Boruto and the guys in the distance. Getting too close. "-and then my dad said we could tag along. We wanted to make sure nothing bad happened to you. We're only here for today though since we leave tomorrow morning. Did you wanna hang out and show us around?-"

"Sorry Denki I'll be right back," I hurry, apologetically speeding off as I noted for them to stay put. Hopefully they do. _I must look so suspicious right now_. "I have to get the guys out of here first."

Meanwhile with the boys sticking together, and Boruto desperately looking around for me, Mitsuki finally spots a certain head running towards them. "It's Sarada," Mitsuki notifies with a hand on Boruto's shoulder.

"Sarada," Shikadai catches me in my out of breath stance. All of us are finally together, and I can barely stand with all this running back and forth. "Jesus what's been up with you?"

"And where's that guy you were with?" Inojin adds.

"What guy?"

"Don't play dumb Sarada. We saw you," Boruto cuts to the chase.

"I'm more upset about what you're all doing here. Did you follow me?" I accuse.

"Hell yeah we did. What do you think you're doing here? Don't you have any self respect?"

 _What?_ "Boruto what the hell are you talking about?"

"Sarada's been gone a while," Chouchou says meanwhile by the couches. "Where'd she disappear off to?"

"I have no idea," Denki sighs, looking around again. But he gasps and adjusts his glasses to be sure he's really seeing this. He sees me, appearingly surrounded by four guys, one of them argueing with me. "Sarada's over there with a bunch of guys. They look like they've got her cornered." Denki squints, seeing a blond arguing close to my face. "I think she needs our help."

"You all need to go home right now," I lecture to the boys in as serious a tone I can muster. "Following me here? That's so wrong."

"Boruto was just worried about you, Sarada," Inojin tries to defend.

"Was not," Boruto argues back for what seems like not the first time, only for Inojin to roll his eyes.

"And what business could you possibly have at a hotel?" Shikadai honestly asks skeptically. I'll admit, it does look pretty sketchy.

"Uh..."

"Sarada?" Chouchou speaks up.

My heart skips a beat, and looking back all of us see Chouchou, Denki, and Iwabe standing in clear view right behind me. And Boruto and the guys in front of me. And I'm smack damn in the middle of it all. I can't believe this.

Somehow looking at the situation, they're not all really looking at me. Rather, at each other. Suddenly Boruto's and the others' aggression is targeted towards the group opposite them. As for the others behind me, they're all equally suspiciously staring at the boys.

"Who are you guys?" Chouchou speaks up bravely, her hands on her hips. "Were you picking on Sarada?"

"Don't worry Chouchou, they're just being guys," I say with a short glare at Boruto. "These are some friends I made while I've been here in Japan. This is Boruto, Mitsuki, Shikadai and Inojin."

"You know these commoners?" Inojin stares. _Inojin you did not just say that._

"Excuse me?" Iwabe frowns.

"And _these_ are my friends from back home," I turn, holding my arms up to the three. "Where I came from?" I emphasize to the clearly caught dead wrong boys.

"Friends from home?" Shikadai repeats, slowly piecing things together. "From the U.S?"

"Duh," Chouchou frowns with some attitude.

"They came to see me!" I cover. It's true. "'Cause they missed me so much!" Somehow the follow up of silence makes me even more anxious. These groups totally hate each other. "How about some lunch, haha?"

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Lucky for me, everyone is at least acting civil. And paying attention to every conversation going in within these groups, no one has mentioned Sasuke luckily. I'm okay with them all being mad at me even. As long as my secret stays safe and today goes over alright, I can deal with the aftermath just fine.

Luckily they're only in Japan for today. If I keep everyone away from Sasuke and the mansion, it'll all be alright. But now it also means I have to keep Boruto and the boys in sight at all times until the day is over.

We're all eating lunch at a small outdoor cafe together. Of course somehow, both groups are seated across and opposite one another. And very rarely do they conversate together. More so just within friend groups. _Part of me wishes everyone would get along, but I guess this is fine too._

"So did you guys all order the cheapest things on the menu because they're commoner priced?" Mitsuki asks to the people across him.

"Are you serious?" Chouchou glares.

"Quite," Mitsuki goes on, not reading the social cues. "I listened in on your orders and noticed you all ordered from the lower priced portion of the menu. I will be happy to pay for your meals if you cannot afford to do so by yourselves."

"We're just fine, thank you," Iwabe glares.

I bury my forehead in my hands. I know Mitsuki was trying sincerely to just conversate, but that could not have gone any worse. "So," I begin, to try and at least bridge the storming gap. "My friends are all free today. Why don't you guys join us in showing them around? We can all hang out together," I suggest to Boruto and the others. "We don't get to all hang out as a bunch of kids without adults that often. Let's make the most of today."

The silence that comes after is rather disappointing. This feels so... unheartening.

"I'm going to the bathroom," Boruto speaks up. He gets up and goes to leave inside the cafe for the restroom, and instinctively I excuse myself and follow behind.

"Boruto wait up," I plead. He keeps going, ignoring me, prompting me to walk a little faster. I reach him just before the bathrooms down a small hallway. Grabbing his wrist I turn him around to face me. We're completely alone. "Are you done being a jerk?"

"Are you done being a liar?"

"You are being so unfair," I saw with a light shove. "First you ignore me for a week, and then you tail me and drag the guys into this, and now you're trying to bail after messing all this up?"

"Look, I get that you're mad. And that's totally fine," he scoffs with his hands up. "But if you were just gonna see some friends why didn't you just say so if it wasn't a big deal? Why do you have to be so cryptic with everything you do? It's so annoying! Unless-" Boruto's eyes crack, and his face changes slightly. "Unless... this is all a part of your 'dramatic' secret, and seeing your friends is just a cover up."

My lack of response answers it all.

"Ha," Boruto nods. "And you're not gonna tell me anything are you." There's a competitive stare off between us. I open my mouth, but literally nothing is coming out.

Eventually, Boruto sighs and turns his back on me. "Whatever. I give up. Whatever it is that's going on I hope you get caught in front of everybody with all your lies. I'm out of here." He turns away from the bathroom and passes me, shoving my shoulder with his own on his way.

I'm about to let him walk away. Would it really be okay to let Boruto leave? He'll just go home and mope in his room most likely. I doubt he'll snitch on me with Sasuke, but this all just feels wrong.

 _I hate having a conscience._ "Help me!" I plead out, causing Boruto to stop walking. He's listening. "I need to stall going back to the mansion, until later tonight. Sasuke can't know about any of this. And, I can't let anybody in this group disband until the day is over. And do to that, everyone needs to get along."

Boruto's back is still turned to me down the hall.

"I can't do it without you being here," I reason. "You're one of the only level-headed people in the group."

"Why?" he asks ridiculously. "This is insane."

"I _am_ hiding something," I finally admit, and Boruto's eyes clear up a little bit. Was he not expecting me to just blurt it out so easily? "From everybody," I add. "And right now, I just can't leave anybody and risk them finding Sasuke or the mansion or anything."

'What. Did you make up something about Sasuke to your friends to impress them? Is that it?"

In a way he's kind of right. "No no, just, agh," I groan. "My friends are just here for a day, Boruto. _A day_. That's it. I just need your help getting through today without them mentioning anything about Sasuke-"

"And you can't tell me why," he predicts knowingly.

I bite my lip hard. Make it or break it Sarada. "If you help me today, I'll tell you everything tonight I promise," I compromise, walking up to him and holding his hands. In the dim lighting Boruto can feel his face warm up. "I'm sorry for always keeping you in the dark about, everything. I've been a jerk, too. It's not fair that you've been helping me and I can't let you in on anything."

"You promise?" Boruto asks disbelievingly, almost not believing it.

I nod, not sure what else I can give him. "I'll tell you everything after today is over."

Boruto looks hesitant, but seems to give in. "Okay."

"Really?"

Tiredly he nods. "Yeah... And I'm sorry for following you with all the guys. That was crossing a line and I shouldn't have done that."

I hold my hand out to him in a hand shake. "Are we cool then?"

He looks at it then at me, then back down with a tired smile. "We're cool." We complete our handshake. "You so owe me."

"I know," I admit. "We should get back out there before Mitsuki says something else and they all kill each other." Boruto chuckles and we head back outside together to the table.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Meanwhile back at the Uchiha Mansion, Naruto and Sasuke are both sitting in his office, doing their daily workload in silence. While Naruto is seated at the side of the desk overlooking document after document after document, Sasuke meanhile is in the head seat, tapping his pen every now and then having stared at the same piece of paper for... a while actually.

After about the twentieth pen-tap, Naruto gives in and finally dares to look at the man. "Okay," he starts, "you are clearly distracted."

"What makes you say that."

"I'm on page eleven, dude," Naruto points out. Both of them look at Sasuke's paper. "You're still on one." Naruto's mouth flattens. "Obviously something's up if I'm ahead." Sasuke chuckles and shakes his head, dropping the sheet on his desk. "Look this if this is about Sarada let it go! She's fine."

"I don't know why I can't just call her. That's why I bought her the damn cell phone in the first place."

"I already said, bad idea," Naruto insists. "Trust me. If you call now it's just going to get on her nerves after how hard she tried to get out of here. She's probably not even going to answer you. And besides, her ankle's all better, Boruto's with her - that should be enough."

Naruto sounding like the voice of reason was totally new to both of them. Nontheless, Sasuke didn't look too persuaded. "Let me ask you something."

"Shoot."

"How did you and Hinata become comfortable with letting Boruto go out alone?"

Naruto blows some air and sits back, trying to remember. "The phone helped," Naruto shrugs, remembering that much. "His phone bill is a bit much but it's worth knowing he's reachable."

"I'm surprised you and Hinata aren't constantly checking up on him what with how often he leaves the mansion."

"We could," Naruto also shrugs, "but then it'd mean we don't trust him." And there in-lied the answer. "We've built up a habit with Boruto at least telling us where he's going before he leaves, and when he'll be back. And whatever he says, we just take his word."

"That easily?"

"He's never come home later than he said he would before," Naruto admits. "We got lucky. He's a bit of a brat but he's been a good kid." He watches Sasuke lean over his desk a bit, folding his hands together in front of his face - a posture Sasuke often does when he's deep in thought. And for once it's not work related. "That worried, huh?"

"Is it that obvious?"

"Um, yeah," Naruto almost laughs. "Come on lighten up, man. What's the problem?"

"You didn't see how hurt she looked when she fell," Sasuke points out. "I'm just having trouble letting go, that's all. She's, fragile."

"She's a kid. She's probably gonna have a few more broken bones before she reaches our age."

Sasuke chuckles, shaking his head and praying that's just a tasteless joke. He runs his hands over his face, feeling a migrane coming on. "This is so annoying."

"Worrying non-stop?" Naruto leans over. "That's called being a parent. And it gets easier building trust." He sees Sasuke eyeing his office phone, and my small succulent plant of a gift beside it. "So, I highly urge you, as your best friend and most trusted advisor, to _not_ call her."

The two are off on a stern staring contest in total silence. It's an almost light atmosphere between them, Naruto fighting the urge to smile and laugh again. Just imagine - Sasuke Uchiha, playing the overprotective father figure. Just in time, a buzzing text comes from Sasuke's phone in his pocket.

Checking it, Naruto tries to peer over. "Who is it?"

"It's Sarada," Sasuke sighs, not wanting to admit Naruto was right. "She texted she's with Boruto and that they'll be out the whole day with friends. They'll be back for dinner."

The blonde grins. "There."

Sasuke has a hint of a smile as he puts his phone done, his mind finally able to rest easy so he can resume work. When he goes to reach for his papers again, he winces at how close Naruto's face suddenly is to him, wearing the _most_ ugly and smug expression. A vein throbs in Sasuke's head as he shoves his friends' face out of his space strong enough to the ground. "Get back to work."

* * *

 **AH! It's so close! Will Boruto really find out that Sarada is Sasuke's daughter? Or will it all just spill out? I'm having so much fun writing this in my spare time - and bringing back Chouchou and the others is super entertaining for me. I'm trying to squeeze in more Boruto moments and SasukexSarada father-daughter moments too, haha!**

 **Hopefully I'll update again within the next week or two! Thank you again for reading and all your review so far! Let me know what you guys think!**

 ** _PREVIEW:_**

 ** _"This isn't going so well," Boruto whispers to me._**

 ** _"You just realized this now?" I comment. "And could your friends_ be _any more vain-sounding?"_**

 ** _"They're your friends too now don't you forget." Jeez._**

 _ **x-x-x-x-x**_

 _ **"So," Iwabe whispers, leaning in after looking over his shoulder. "What's up with you and that Boruto kid?"**_

 _ **"What do you mean?"**_

 _ **"You two obviously like each other," he points out maturely. "And you seem pretty close already."**_

 _ **x-x-x-x-x**_

 _ **"W-What do you mean Sasuke doesn't know?" Chouchou tries to reason out. Everyone's eyes are on me from where they are on the playground."We've seen the articles, and your photos. You live with him we've seen it."**_

 _ **"You're not Sasuke's daughter," Shikadai picks up, blinking repeatedly. "Are you? T-There's no way."**_

 _ **Boruto's knees feel almost weak. '**_ **No fucking way.'** _ **The initial shock begins to show on the others' faces.**_


	10. Clashing Together Pt2

**Chapter 10: Collisions Pt.2**

 ** _An email from Chouchou says that she, Iwabe and Denki are coming to Japan to check on Sarada after a long period of unresponsive emails. Now Sarada has to find a way to entertain them without letting them find Sasuke. At the same time, Boruto is losing patience with Sarada's not letting him in on her secret. It doesn't get any easier when both groups of friends meet and don't get along. Will Sarada be able to play these charades long enough to hide her identity between both groups?_**

* * *

So from what I gather, we're all committing to hanging out together the whole day. I'd asked Chouchou, Denki and Iwabe if they were cool with it, and they said they would do it for me. Then when it came to asking Shikadai, Mitsuki and Inojin, they more or less unwillingly agreed for my sake, with Boruto's heavy persuasion. And Boruto would have my back if anything odd ever came up.

Takes a small load off my shoulders knowing everyone will be civil at least. (And that someone will shut Mitsuki up if he starts to ramble insensitively.)

Chouchou suggested first we all go to a park first and play around a bit, something we would all do after school back home if the weather was nice. After school we used to get ice cream from this little ice cart around the corner of our school, and we'd walk to the nearby park and just walk and talk. It was pretty relaxing, and a cheap way to hang out. Sometimes we'd do our homework together on the bleachers of the empty baseball field, too.

We all arrived to an open field portion of a park nearby the cafe we just ate at and decided to walk around there. Boruto and I walk from behind the group to keep an eye on everybody. There's still a bit of hostility between the two groups, but they're talking at least. But... it still leaves a lot to be desired.

Fair to say Inojin and the boys didn't enjoy this park outing as much.

"And you guys just walk around for fun?" Inojin asks as we stroll.

"Yeah," Denki replies optimistically. "After school we'll go to the park and just walk and talk together. Sometimes Iwabe will bring his soccer ball and we'll all play together."

"How boring," Inojin comments, casing Denki to frown. "Is that all you do?"

"Well what do you guys do for fun?" Denki challenges curiously.

"I mean we go to the arcade sometimes," Shikadai recalls. "Or we'll go to Boruto's mansion and just hang around."

"Or theme parks if they're not too crowded," Mitsuki adds.

"Arcades, theme parks and mansions," Iwabe repeats. "You're all just a bunch of stuck up high-chair kids."

"Not our fault we were born into blue blood families," Inojin counters. "Anyway it's what we do. There's nothing wrong with it. I just find walking and talking farily boring and unrpoductive in comparison."

"This isn't going so well," Boruto whispers to me with a face.

"You just realized this now?" I comment. "And could your friends be any more vain-sounding?"

"They're your friends too now don't you forget." Jeez.

"But sometimes walk-and-talks can be really therapeutic," Chouchou goes, spinning in circles ahead of everyone. "It leads to deeper communication and relationships among friends not to mention the exercise."

"Because clearly you need it," Inojin scoffs.

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that," Chouchou winks, suddenly in front of Inojin, causing the blond to abruptly stop walking. "And if you guys are so bored I don't see you coming up with anything else to do."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Lo and behold, Shikadai suggested going over to the Village Town Mall. I personally have never been here and now I know why. It's the most expensive high brand mall, and it's just so extravagant, only the rich could shop here. There's so much glossy white marble, and tons of the store fronts are lined with gold leaf. And all the fountains in the mall are decorated with beautifully sculpted statues in them.

"Whoa," I whisper. My head and my friends' are constantly tilted up, looking everywhere like tourists. The glass ceiling is so high, and there are four floors for shopping. Everyone here is dressed even better than the manicans, and fancy wrapped shopping bags adorn people's arms. I've never even heard of half these stores. And the ones I do, I only reorganize because my mom's done business with them overseas. Why do all these shoppers look so gorgeous?

"My dad's a fashion designer, so a lot of these stores tailor to my friends and I when we need new clothes made for us," Inojin notes, not meaning to brag.

"You get all your clothes made for you?" Denki asks in disbelief.

"Mostly," Mitsuki replies. "If we buy any it's mostly when we go on vacation out of the country."

"Personally tailored clothes is a bit much don't you think?" Chouchou asks, gaping at all the extraness of this mall. Even the food carts look fancier than most restaurants we've been to.

"Why do you think our clothes fit us so well?" Mitsuki explains. "Not too big, not too small. All form flattering no matter what body type."

"I'd love to get clothes made especially for me one day," Chouchou daydreams before spotting a macaroon shop window. She instantly hovers over, causing us to come to a halt together.

"This is so stupid," Iwabe mutters, walking back towards Boruto and I. "There's so much pomp and circumstance in here. Is this seriously all you guys do for fun around here?"

"Don't get these guys wrong. We're not as money obsessed as we look," Boruto tries to dispel. "Most of the time we just like chilling and playing video games together, just like you probably."

"And they're not that bad once you get to know them," I add. Iwabe's always been a skeptic, no matter how reasonable he can be. But this must be rediuclous for him- "Chouchou wait those aren't free samples! Inojin stop that!" I run ahead, leaving Boruto and Iwabe alone. The two laugh though as I frantically disappear.

"Is she as much a handful back home with you guys?" Boruto asks, walking beside Iwabe.

"Oh definitely," Iwabe chuckles. "We tried persuading her for the longest to think for a second about coming here to Japan so suddenly. It was a pretty rash decision, especially coming from Sarada."

"What do you mean?"

"Well you know her I suppose. She's smart, likes to take her time thinking. But in the spur of the moment she was so intent on coming here," Iwabe explains, and Boruto tries to interpret that information from what he already knows. "But she made it work I guess. She found him and she's happy, so I guess we should cut her some slack about not replying to our emails."

"Yeah," Boruto agrees vaguely. _She found 'him'? Who's him? Why_ did _she come all the way out here?_ Boruto vaguely recalls back when I'd first come to live in the Uchiha mansion, that I'd said I was looking for somebody. Being alone with one of my friends, this was Boruto's moment to do some private info gathering on his own behalf and get some facts straight.

However, seeing me in the distance, yelling at Mitsuki and scolding Inojin while holding back Chouchou from running off somewhere, the whole comical view is just so... calming, ironically. Boruto decides to hold his tongue until the night came, trusting I'll keep my word. _I should hear it from her._

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Alright, after the walk in the park (that just went horribly wrong), and shopping at the mall (leading to a huge out turn of arguments and fighting), Boruto suggested a really simple way to end the night was going to an old playground near the mansion.

Boruto and I had passed it once weeks ago, and it was so close to the mansion it made me nervous about possibly running into Sasuke, but Boruto assured me it would be fine. Anything to get these guys to stop fighting with one another. Who doesn't love a playground? Though, watching everybody all day reminds me how much Boruto and I used to argue when we first met, between the rich and commoner garbage.

Luckily the playground was a decent idea. Slides and swings and a small merry-go-round spinning thing. Just chilling here at sunset, nothing can go as wrong.

Until Shikadai and Chouchou started arguing over school ethics. And there was no way I could even try to disband that.

I sit at the top of the twin slides, leaning arms and elbows over a small pipe. Denki sits beside me on the opposite slide to keep company, with Boruto leaning against the base of the slide beneath us.

Mitsuki is hanging upside down on the monkey bars as Iwabe does pull ups under them. Meanwhile Shikadai is laying down on the base of the merry-go-round, on the verge of taking a nap.

"The day is almost over," I groan, feeling exhausted with babysitting everybody.

"I'm sorry for us taking up your entire day," Denki apologizes. "I know everyone may not look it, but the others definitely appreciate you taking us around."

"Thank you Denki."

"So... are we ever going to meet your dad?" Denki adds. Something catches itself in my throat, and suddenly I'm very hyper sensitive to to everybody. They all heard him ask.

"'Dad'?" Boruto mutters, head up and looking up at us above the slide. Last he recalled, my father was out of the picture.

"Oh yeah that's right! You found him didn't you?" Chouchou overhears from the middle of the playground. Suddenly all eyes are on me. I knew this topic could possibly come up, and I've been lucky so far that it hadn't. But now...

"Um," I feel my mouth starting to dry up. "Y-Yeah...!"

"Your dad lives around here, Sarada?" Mitsuki asks curiously, flipping up over on top of the monkey bars.

"Yeah. She came all the way out to Japan to meet the guy," Iwabe says, and Boruto slowly starts piecing everything all together finally. Meanwhile my mind is racing trying to find a solution to fix this. This isn't happening.

"No way, she's been living with Boruto all this time," Shikadai sits up. He looks to me. "I thought your folks still lived back in the states."

"Living with Boruto?" Chouchou repeats, pointing at the poor blonde. "There's no way. She's been with her dad. You're totally wrong."

"Uh, no we're not," Inojin laughs in a scoff. "You've got it all wrong fatso."

"Alright I get I'm curvy, but I'm tired of all your jabs at my weight. All of you," Chouchou defends, staring hard at Inojin and Shikadai.

"Just stating facts," Inojin smirks.

"Stop picking on her," Iwabe warns, walking up beside the girl rather threatening looking. "I'm starting to get real tired of you spoiled brats running your mouth all the time. Is this how you treat Sarada?"

"Hey hey hey!" I panic, sliding down and running to them. I force myself in and try to separate Chouchou, Iwabe, Inojin and Shikadai. Getting between three boys trying to fight isn't easy, especially when my frame is so small. Ow? "Fighting isn't gonna solve anything!" I try to yell over them. Denki and Boruto watch frozen from the slides, and Mitsuki watches from above the monkey bars.

"I'm tired of hanging with these guys Sarada!" Chouchou shouts across to me. "Can't we just go over to your place instead?"

"Sarada these guys are getting on my last nerve!"

"Would you control your friends?"

"No wonder you left home."

"Mitsuki would shut up!?"

"I don't know why you guys are acting so high and mighty when Sarada's probably richer than all of you put together!"

"What the hell are you commoners talking about?!"

Between all this constant nagging and arguing between the two groups, and Denki and Boruto on the sidelines by the slide watching, I can see Boruto slowly clicking it all together. He and I connect eyes for just a second, and I can already see the shock I've always imagined on his face if he found me it. That's it. It's over. "AHHHHHHH!" I scream at the top of my lungs to get everyone's attention.

Finally all the physicality and shouting cease, and once again all eyes are on me. My hair is a mess. My glasses are crooked. My body is hot all over from all this energy. "I can't TAKE all this fighting! It's driving me insane!"

"S-Sarada," Chouchou tries to calm.

"No! No 'Sarada'," I mock, facing her and Iwabe. "I've been trying all day to get you all to just get along for a moment so I can just- AGH!" I yell, completely throwing a tantrum. This is insane. "All of you are crazy! And do you guys wanna know the reason why we can't come over and see my dad!? It's because Sasuke doesn't even know that I'm his daughter!"

"What...?" Denki murmurs from atop the slide.

Boruto's knees feel almost weak. _No fucking way_. The initial shock shows on the others' faces.

"W-What do you mean Sasuke doesn't know?" Chouchou tries to reason out. "We've seen the articles, and your photos. You live with him we've seen it."

"You're not Sasuke's daughter," Shikadai picks up, blinking repeatedly. "Are you? T-There's no way."

After calming down from my first angry burst, it seems all the others want is just a clear answer as to what's going on. Huh, that's what I'd like too, to be honest. Shikadai and Inojin here in front of me look betrayed, or horrified. And behind me Chouchou and look Iwabe look almost disappointed at me. There's a guilt first that runs through me - for probably the twelveth time today.

I almost stumble back if not for my foot catching me. My head is spinning. I'm surrounded by looks. "I-I'm sorry you guys. I didn't mean to hide it like this. I-It's just, I found out at the start of summer that Sasuke Uchiha was my dad, a-and I traveled all the way out here to meet him. Just to meet him." I look back at Boruto, almost desperate for an understanding face. However Boruto looks just as taken back. "I didn't expect Boruto's dad to give me a room to stay at the Uchiha mansion. And then everything just, came out this way I swear."

I look back to Denki, who looks concerned. Is even he disappointed in me for lying? Mitsuki's hard to read, but I don't doubt he's judging me as well. "What I didn't expect when meeting Sasuke was that he wouldn't recognize me." Saying it out loud really solidifies the idea, and it tugs on my heart a little bit. I laugh hurmourlessly. "H-He didn't even know who I was. He probably doesn't even know he has a daughter, much less that it's me." I can feel the tears starting to well in my eyes. My glasses are fogging on the sides, and no one else is saying a word.

"Sarada..." Iwabe speaks up, trying to find the words.

I remove my glasses to rub my eyes with my forearm. "I'm tired, of trying to juggle lies of telling you guys that my dad and I are great, while lying to _you_ guys about my identity a-and, it's just too much now with all of you guys here." I sniffle. "Especially since Sasuke probably doesn't even want a kid."

Saying that out loud hurts, and before I can fall into deeper sobs I take off in a random direction away from the playground. I need to get away. Everyone's left behind wanting to follow, but unsure what to say or do. Boruto at that point squeezes his fists before running off after me. Denki watches from the highest point of the playground on top of the slide, unsure what to do either.

"It's over. They know." Once my sides start to hurt, I stop running and arrive by a lone swing set on another hill - a good six minute non-stop run away from the others. Physically running away from the conversation may not have been the smartest thing, but I needed to get out for a minute. Just a minute, to get away. And just... God.

I break down beside the swing set, completely breaking down and letting it out. I start crying my eyes out, and sobbing. I can't remember the last time I cried like a baby like this. I feel so pathetic. I am. Sasuke doesn't want me. My friends don't really know me, nor would they probably want to know me after all this bullshit.

"Sarada!" That's Boruto? "Sarada!"

He's coming here. Instinctively my shoot my arms up to wipe my face; not that it'll cover the fact I'm crying. It's just Boruto, so I decide to stay, and settle for the redness in my face. He falls to his knees beside me on the sand in front of me, and he holds my shoulders up to get me to sit up straight. The little sobs won't stop, though, and I can't bring myself to look him in the face. "Hey get a grip. It's alright."

"No it's not alright," I manage out. "I'm caught between the pressure of everyone knowing that I lied to them about having a dad around o-or, keeping something so important from you and your friends a-and- I'm just so tired, and frustrated-"

"And I don't blame you."

"What, now you pity me?" I accuse from his tone. "Is that how the rest of you feel? Did they all tell you to go check on me? Or to interrogate me on why I'm such a fake?"

"Sarada I know you're angry but don't take it out on them."

"Then what. Why the hell are you here?"

"To check on you!"

"And then what? I'd stop crying and be perfectly fine?! That'd I'd go back with you to the others and resume this whole ordeal all over again?!"

"What are you angry at them?" Boruto yells at me.

"Of course not no!"

"Then what are you angry at?"

"I'M ANGRY AT ME!" I scream back into his face. His grip on my shoulders haven't loosened, and somehow my yelling hasn't backed him off either. A short silence follows, and that causes my eyes to water. _I am angry at me_. "I... I'm angry that I thought, my coming here could possibly be good! I'm angry that I've had to LIE to Chouchou and the others about all these fantastic stories of father-daughter time that I _know_ I'll never have. A-And, even worse? I'm starting to accept the fact that no matter how close Sasuke and I get, he'll never want a daughter and he'll never accept me as a daughter!" Yelling that out somehow makes me feel even worse. "What was I thinking, coming all the way out here in the first place...?"

"Hey, I'm telling you - Sasuke doesn't feel that way at all. You've got it all wrong."

"What do you know?!" I scoff angrily. I don't mean to take out my anger at Boruto. "You HAVE a mom and a dad! And even though they're always working at least they're THERE! How the _hell_ do you think you've got any better grasp on this situation than I do!? HUH?!" My voice remains loud, all while trying to shove Boruto away. But solemnly he keeps his hold on my shoulder, no matter how hard I cry and push and hit him. "Sasuke told me he's not a family guy! He doesn't WANT a family! I should've gotten the hint then!" I self blame. "He may treat me nicer but that doesn't change anything about him at all!"

At that point, my voice has given out, and all that's left are quiet sobs. I hate feeling sorry for myself. I hate feeling so helpless to my emotions. But all I can do is cry, and Boruto just grabs my head and hugs me. Eventually my attempts at shoving him away burn out, and I'm left in his arms, crying.

"Sasuke's he's obviously changed since you came," Boruto argues, trying to keep his tone calm for us. "And these past few weeks maybe he's changed his mind. He's more open to all of us these past few weeks than he's been in years." Boruto lets go of me sits back down on the ground in front of me, giving me a small tissue. "Here."

"What's this?"

"A hankerchief," he says obviously.

"You actually carry one of these around with you?" I laugh half-heartedly, wiping my eyes under my glasses.

"I'm a rich kid. Of course," Boruto humors, making me laugh again. "But I mean what I said. Sasuke's changed. I should know. I've grown up with the guy all my life. he's never cared for anything until you came along." Boruto look at me as my sobs are reduced to quiet hiccups. "But suddenly your obsession with Sasuke all the time makes sense now." I look up. "Is he really your dad...?"

I nod. "I wish he wasn't sometimes, and that I really was just a charity-case guest." I sigh, finally calming down. "I want to tell him. I do. But I'm afraid if he finds out too soon, he'll just send me back home or tell my mom. That's why I've been so careful about who knows, or just making sure that no one knew at all."

"Not even my dad knows?"

I shake my head. "Just you, and the others now." I hug my knees. "I've been telling my friends that I'd found my father and, and lying that we've been doing all these great things since we've found each other." I slump a little. "Lying that he loves me..." I sniffle a little and wipe my nose before it an drip. "Lying to your friends saying that your dad loves you hurts a lot more than I thought it would."

"I can imagine," Boruto says solemnly.

I try to breathe and gather myself. "I'm sorry for lying to you all this time Boruto. I wanted to tell you really but I-"

"Save it," Boruto forgives, holding up his hand in protest. "I get it." Just that is enough for us to come to a mutual understanding. "And I'll keep your secret too," Boruto adds, catching me by surprise. "After all this is over, I'll help you keep it."

You really are a good friend, Boruto. "Thank you."

Meanwhile back at the playground, while Boruto and I were having out talk, the rest of the kids are all gathered around the monkey bar platforms. Everyone is just chilling or hanging around, rather more bummed out than in shock anymore. "I hope Sarada is alright," Chouchou speaks up sadly. "She looked really sad."

"I can't believe she's really Sasuke Uchiha's kid," Shikadai repeats for probably the third time.

"I can't believe he _had_ a kid," Inojin says with a face.

"This is all my fault," Denki slumps, rather depressed. "If I hadn't opened my mouth we wouldn't be all split up."

"It must've been hard keeping everything under wraps from everybody," Chouchou sympathizes, crossing her arms. "No wonder she ran off like that."

"I'm sure Boruto's got it," Mitsuki assures everyone, jumping down from the top. "He's very good at calming Sarada down."

"Is that a fact," Iwabe says skeptically, also still sitting at the top of the bars.

Mitsuki looks up and nods. "Boruto's family lives in the Uchiha Mansion, so they've gotten fairly close since her stay started. I'm sure they'll be back soon." That is probably the nicest and safest thing Mitsuki had said all day.

And just as he predicted, in the sunset's horizon the group could see Boruto and I walking back together in one piece. "It's Sarada," Chouchou yells in relief, running first to catch us. Once we arrive to the group, Chouchou throws her signature hug around me. All these apologies and 'I love yous' from her are overwhelmingly warm and welcome that it almost makes me cry again.

"Let her breathe, fatso," Inojin laughs as everyone comes and joins our little circle.

"Are you okay, kid?" Iwabe asks, coming over.

"Yeah," I say in a leftover hiccup. "I'm sorry for blowing up earlier, and running off like that. I face Chouchou, Iwabe and Denki. "I'm sorry to you guys for lying over my emails. You guys worked so hard to help me fly over here. I didn't want to disappoint you by telling you guys my dad was a complete asshole."

"We could never be disappointed in you, Sarada," Chouchou hugs again. Mm. I miss this so much.

Over her shoulder I see Shikadai, Mitsuki and Inojin, oddly peaceful. "And I'm sorry to you guys too," I say, letting go of Chouchou. I look at them, and at Boruto behind me. "I'm sorry for not telling you the truth about me."

"We're sorry for acting like a bunch of big babies all day," Shikadai apologizes on everyone's behalf. "We wanted to let you know that no matter what you think of us, we're not going to spill."

"And that while you two ran off, we all kind of made up," Inojin adds, looking around at everyone. "Fatso here isn't that bad."

"And your new friends maybe have some hope," Chouchou whispers skeptically, making me laugh.

"Say, why don't we all have dinner back at the mansion?" Boruto suggests to everybody. "Now that we're all on the same page, let's actually eat some decent food and call it a night. I have have a driver back at the mansion that can take you back to your hotel after."

"We;d appreciate that," Iwabe nods to Boruto. Hearing everybody conversate together so friendly-like feels so... nice. Especially after such a tense day. And now we're all having dinner over at the mansion? It's hard to believe the day's almsot over.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Here you go guys!" Boruto sets down two more glasses of juice while I set out chopsticks for everybody. "Thanks again mom for cooking the meal."

"Yeah thank you for having us," Denki adds, helping Boruto set the table.

"It's no trouble at all," Hinata smiles. Everyone is seated around the kitchen table, and so much good food is put all over. Every chair as a blank plate for everyone to grab stuff and put on. "Very rarely do we get so many young visitors to the mansion. Besides, Sarada's friends from overseas came to visit. It's a wonderful occasion."

"Naruto's going to be upset he wasn't told the food would be this good tonight," I note quietly.

Boruto scoffs, setting my chopsticks down for me. "He's not getting any of this."

"Man, I've never seen a meal this good this before," Inojin comments. "And with so many friends."

"Let's dig in, I'm starving," Boruto rushes, jumping into his chair and grabbing food with his chopsticks. I push my seat in and everyone starts to eat together. Hinata smiles alongside two other maids who helped with the cooking, and another maid comes in to announce Sasuke and Naruto's return home.

I overhear the maid and glance up just in time to see Naruto and Sasuke walk into the kitchen to see what the commotion is all about. They looked tired having just come back from some important meeting probably. They're both in pretty clean dress shirts. "Whoa," Naruto says, seeing all the kids. "Did we adopt?"

"God forbid," Sasuke jokes. The entire kitchen table is occupied by teenagers. "What's all this?"

"Sarada's friends from overseas came to visit," Hinata whispers to the two. "Sarada, Boruto and the boys showed them around today."

"So that's why she was so desperate to get out of the house," Naruto remembers.

"The food's awesome mom," Boruto speaks up with a full mouth. Gross.

"Can I have some?-" Naruto asks tiredly, but Hinata gives him his own plate of food separate from ours, prepped earlier. Gratefully he gives a short kiss to kiss wife before leaving to work some more in the office.

"Is that him?" Chouchou whispers beside me, eyes pointing to Sasuke. I shh her, and she giggles to herself.

I can feel Sasuke looking at us beside Hinata, and at first I wonder if he'll say anything. In the end, I can see Hinata give him a plate and Sasuke goes to leave us in peace. But he smiles at me before he leaves, and I smile back shyly.

The group makes some hilarious conversation as the dinner goes on. And for desert, we get really fancy ice creams, courtesy of the maids. They all had fun creating personally designed deserts for each of us, and our reactions definitely gave them the pleasure of serving us. Hinata bid the maids good night, and we all helped her clean up.

I'm washing dishes with Iwabe while the others clean the table or the floors. "So did you guys have fun?" I ask Iwabe.

"What do you think?" he chuckles, and I take that as a yes. "So," Iwabe whispers, leaning in after looking over his shoulder. "What's up with you and that Boruto kid?"

"What do you mean?"

"You two obviously like each other," he points out maturely. "And you seem pretty close already."

"Nah. We're just roommate friends. The only reason we seem close is because we got so comfortable living in the same place together."

"Uhuh." Iwabe shrugs first. "Perhaps. But I think your friends know you well enough to know when you're heading somewhere good."

I look up at him, scrubbing another plate meanwhile. "Iwabe, you're always honest with me. Do you think I'm doing the right thing staying here with Sasuke as long as I am?"

"Well, now that Boruto knows your secret I think it's going to be a little easier," Iwabe points out first. "But personally, I think you should tell your dad the truth." I frown, wondering if he's right. "When the time is right."

"When do you think that'll be?"

"I don't know. That's all on you," he scoffs with a laugh. "Just keep doing what you're doing. You look like you've surrounded yourself with some pretty good guys." We look back and see Chouchou lecturing Shikadai and Mitsuki on how to scrub a table correctly. "Interesting guys," Iwabe corrects, "but you'll be fine."

"Thank you Iwabe."

"Just remember, your mom won't be away forever."

"I just talked with my driver," Boruto announces, walking back into the kitchen. "Your ride to your hotel is ready whenever you guys are."

"Guess that's our cue. I don't want to be out too late. My dad may wonder where we are," Denki advises, gathering the group. I appear nearby and give him a big hug. "We're so glad you're doing well, Sarada."

"We're gonna miss you," Chouchou adds, joining in on our hug. We all look up and look at Iwabe, who rolls his eyes and enthusiastically enough holds his arms around us too.

"I'm gonna miss you guys so much too," I smile.

Inojin laughs. "Man you guys are way to comfortable for group hugs-"

"Then get in here!" Chouchou grabs, pulling him into the force. Boruto laughs and body slams himself into our group hug as well. Mitsuki joins in willingly, and eventually Shikadai gets persuaded. We all laugh as they hear me shouting that I can't breathe, and we all struggle to stay balanced and standing. Before long, a maid is escorting my friends out the front door and across the lawn to the car. Then Shikadai, Mitsuki, and Inojin eventually leave too when their rides arrive to take them away.

At the end of the night, it's just Boruto and I laying around on the grand staircase, completely zapped of all our energy. He collapses across from me with two cans of milk tea. One for him and one for me. Gratefully I take mine and we open them at the same time, drinking together. "What a day," I sigh.

"No kidding," Boruto agrees, holding his can up.

Sasuke appears around the corner from his office door and notices us lazing around. "And what happened to you guys?"

"Long day," we both say. We glance at one another for having in sync answers.

Sasuke chuckles and stands beside me on a step. "I have a charity event at a day care tomorrow morning. Would you mind tagging along and be my token charity take-in?"

"That's my job," I smile, holding my can up to him.

"Good," he thanks with a nod. "Get some sleep you two. Don't stay up too late."

"No problem," I lets out as Sasuke heads up the stairs, probably to go to bed himself.

"And one more thing," he says, looking back down at me. "Thanks for the text. I appreciate it."

I remember what he's talking about and smile up at him. He smiles back and goes on. Once his footsteps are out of hearing range, I notice Boruto giving me the oddest and most intense stare. It's kind of nerve wrecking. "What?" I almost smile.

"W-Well," Boruto stammers. "Now that I know that you're, you know," I laugh at his awkwardness, "Seeing you and Sasuke next to each other, it's really really freaky."

"You'll get used to it," I assure.

"Not for a while," Boruto denies with a laugh. "Guess we can't call you a commoner any more huh?"

We laugh tiredly, and I sip a bit more of the drink. "Iwabe brought up a good point to me though." Boruto arches his brow. "The only reason I made it over here is because my mom's doing work overseas in Paris for the summer. Eventually she'll find out when she comes home that I'm gone."

"And then what?"

I shrug, keeping my eyes down. "At first I just wanted to meet my dad, nothing more really. But now, I'm starting find out more stuff like, how they met. And now I want to know stuff like, where? When? Why did they split?" My face falters a little. "If they ever met again, would they have a shot together? At all?"

"Has your mom ever remarried?" he asks, to which I shake my head no. "Sasuke's never dated before either, as far as I know."

"Is it crazy for me to want my parents to get back together?"

Boruto looks taken back, but thinks for a moment before responding. "It's a pretty crazy idea," he admits. "Not impossible but, you don't know the history between your folks. People split up for a bunch of reasons. Why don't you just spend your time having fun instead of investigating?"

"But I'm running out of time," I admit, puling my legs up and setting my can down gently. "I've been here for what, a month? I have at least two more left for the summer. Maybe. If I'm lucky. And that's assuming I don't get caught or told on by anybody. Or that my babysitter doesn't find out where I went. Or that Sasuke doesn't kick me out once he gets tired of me mooching off his place." I pause, realizing how long I'm starting to go on for. It's almost scary, putting it all together that way. "I don't have the luxury to just be having fun this summer, you know?"

"Hey hey," Boruto sits up. "You've got me and the guys now behind your back. We won't let anything bad happen."

"What makes you so sure?" I ask skeptically. "And none of this affects you in the end. Why do you care anyway?"

Boruto shrugs, a little lost for words first. "I just... want to make sure that when you leave, you're not disappointed with everything you came here to do." I look at him differently. I wasn't expecting that sincere of an answer. "I mean, Shikadai and the guys are great. Don't get me wrong. And don't tell them this but... You're probably my real first friend that just, gets things. Gets me. Wants to understand me, and everyone else." Boruto bites his lips, probably starting to realize how cheesy he sounds. His cheeks redden and he looks way. "You're cool," he surmises. "I want to help you because I want to help you."

"I... don't know what to say," I manage out. "That's one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me."

"Yeah well don't get used to it," Boruto reverts, smiling as he drinks. And just like that we sit in silence on the grand staircase, enjoying what time we had left of the night.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

The next morning, Boruto and I woke up extra early to meet up with my friends and send them off properly. Naruto arranged for a driver to take us to the airport where we all agreed we'd meet up with them.

Boruto and I stand around the waiting area until we see the familiar crowd of faces coming through with their luggage. "Sarada!" Denki waves from the distance. It's him, Chouchou and Iwabe - and the girl Mirai, their chaperone. As well as a man I assume to be Denki's business man father. Mirai and the man say something to Denki before going off to probably handle some paperwork first while we all say goodbye.

The other kids and us congregate together - a much more relaxed atmosphere compared to when we all met yesterday. "So this is it, huh?" Denki smiles sadly at me.

"Don't worry, it's not like it's a permanent goodbye. I'll be home soon," I assure.

"Not too soon hopefully," Chouchou encourages as she comes over and hugs me. I hug her tightly back, missing my much loved girl friend. "Though leaving me alone with these boys is a crime. This summer is so boring without you back home."

"Take good care of her," Iwabe truces, giving a fist bump to Boruto, who merely smiles and nods. He then looks accusatorily at me. "And you, don't forget to send emails this time."

"Sorry," I laugh, scratching my head. "It got pretty hectic before you guys got here, but I promise to write this time."

"It should be easier now that we're all on the same page now," Denki adds hopefully.

"Mitsuki, Inojin and Shikadai all send their best wishes for your flight home," Boruto adds, delivering the message. "They don't really get up this early."

"We understand," Chouchou laughs. "We're gonna miss you, Sarada."

"I'll miss you guys too," I smile, feeling a little bittersweet at this goodbye. "I think about you every day. I wouldn't be here without you."

"Nah, you did a lot of the work yourself, kid," Iwabe compliments, ruffling my hair. He takes notice and smiles at his work. "It's growing out pretty well."

"It only grew like an inch," I say. "But I do like the hair. I may keep it short and ask for a trim when I get home."

"I'll hold you to it," Iwabe nods. "Take care of yourself, _Uchiha_." I roll my eyes and finally brush his hand off my head. Iwabe being so much taller than us always did that as a sign of affection. I give him one big hug goodbye which he returns.

The next thing I know Denki runs and gives me goodbye hug too. "Let us know if there's ever anything you need!" he says cheerfully. "Just because we're on the other side of the world doesn't mean we can't do things for you."

"And just because we're commoners doesn't mean we can't be useful," Chouchou jokes, winking at Boruto who just smiles apologetically.

"Of course, Denki," I hug back. "Take care of these two until I get home." Denki nods, until he hesitantly lets go. I swear his glasses are a little foggy. Oh my god Denki. At that I rush in for one more hug before he can be caught crying his eyes out. And then Chouchou runs in to join the hug, and then eventually Iwabe caves in as well and hugs us all from the outside.

Boruto stands as the odd one out, letting my friends and I have our moment.

"Denki! Our plane is starting to board!" a man's voice calls. Must be his father. After one more sniffle from either Chouchou or Denki, we all let go and I finally manage to get them on their way.

Boruto and I are eventually standing before a large window wall as their giant plane takes off. We continue watching it until it's no longer in sight. Just a tiny speck in the sky, fading away. "You'll see them again," Boruto speaks up first, sensing I'm probably a little down at their departure.

"I know," I nod, assuring myself. "But until I get to go home, I have you and the guys at least," I smile. "I'm really glad you guys know my secret now. It's this huge wave of pressure off my shoulders."

"It must've been hard juggling all that alone all these weeks," Boruto says. "And I didn't make your stay any more comfortable either. I'm sorry for being a jerk when you first got here. I didn't know."

"Oh please. Even if you did know my secret then you still would've treated me like trash," I joke, punching him in the shoulder. "But the past is in the past. These are new times. I wanna enjoy this."

Boruto smiles, seeing this girl before him in a whole new light. "Let's go home." And just like that we head out alone. But this definitely feels like a new chapter in my life. But the summer's half over. From now on I need to strategize what I'm gonna do with the rest of my time here. Utilize my new allies. Trust that I'm not alone in this entire mess I got myself into.

I came here to do one thing and I'm going to see it through.

 _Mom, I hope you're doing alright. Wherever you are._

* * *

 **Hi guys! YES! Now all the guys know her secret! Getting closer to Sasuke finally finding out! I wanted to thank you guys so far for the reviews! I'm so happy you all enjoyed the last chapter! Hopefully this one brings some closure to Sarada and her friends.**

 **Thank you for reading!**

 _ **PREVIEW:**_

 _ **"Screw these music lessons. I wish I could just go home already."**_

 _ **"Someone misses his girlfriend," Shikadai teases.**_

 _ **"She is not my girlfriend," Boruto denies plainly. "I found out today's her birthday from her passport, and she's probably all alone in the mansion." The guys all stop what they're doing and look back at Boruto, sulking against the wall. "I just feel really crappy about it since she doesn't want to do anything."**_

 _ **"Would it risk exposing her secret to Sasuke if she did?" Mitsuki asks curiously.**_

 _ **"Maybe. But I don't think that's why she kept quiet about it," Boruto ponders, hands in pockets.**_

 _ **x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

 _ **"I'll be attending a public event at noon," Sasuke tells me over breakfast. "It's a city council appearance. Would you be able to make it with me?"**_

 _ **"And act as your child-charity-protigee? Sure," I laugh, earning a small amused smile from him.**_

 _ **"I wanted to thank you for always putting up with going to these events."**_

 _ **"It's what I'm here for aren't I?" I point out, more casually now. "I like to think of it as my rent. I make you look good to the public, you let me stay. Seems fair."**_

 _ **x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

 _ **"I'd only found out about Sasuke right before the school year ended."**_

 _ **As Boruto scrolls through my laptop full of bookmarked Sasuke articles, I pull my luggage out from under the bed, and he notices a few things in a small secret compartment of the bag. "What're these?" he asks as I show him.**_

 _ **"Well, figuring I couldn't trust you what with how much you hated me when I got here," I say, "I thought I should try hiding these in case you ever tried to snoop."**_

 _ **"Believe me I did," Boruto agreed, making me stare at him for a moment. He's just a boy Sarada. Let it go. Boruto pulls out a small wallet-sized photo album. "What's this?"**_

 _ **"Oh," I notice. "Just a small photo book of people from home. I get homesick sometimes, so I bring that with me when I go on trips with my mom."**_


	11. Me and my Dad Pt1

**Chapter 11: Me and My Dad Pt.1**

 _ **It's Sarada's birthday today! However to keep her identity undercover she doesn't want to celebrate it. Boruto thinks otherwise, and so does Sasuke when he indirectly finds out. In a side story, the guys interrogate Boruto on his developing feelings for his room mate.**_

* * *

Boruto walks down the dark hallway as quietly as possible. Tip-toeing even, with a jumbo box of Ninja-Os in one arm and two glass bowls with spoons in the other, along with a pint of milk hanging off his pinkie.

Eventually he makes it to my bedroom door, and after looking both ways to see if the coast was clear, he knocks ever so quietly with his elbow. " _Hey..._!" Boruto whispers harshly, eyes still darting to make sure no one's watching. " _Sarada would you open up_ -! AH-!" I'd swiped the door open and tugged him inside, breakfast and all, before slamming the door shut - silently might I add.

It's 5:30 am. Still dark out, but light is relatively starting to show up. Nonetheless, I'd pulled all the screens down over my windows and closed the curtains. All the lights are off, save for small little lamps Boruto had brought in from his room. The less likely it is for anyone to know we're awake, the better.

At the foot of my bed on the floor, Boruto and I hover over my laptop as he pours us cereal and milk for our breakfast. The screen is flooded with articles on Sasuke Uchiha, as well as a small notebook I'd been keeping with me the past few days full of notes on things I've learned on my trip so far.

"So you've been doing all this research on Sasuke for how long now?"

"Not that long," I say, finally digging in. In reality we'd been awake for an hour, me explaining to Boruto my entire backstory of coming here. He wanted to know everything so we're doing this in the only way no one could hear us. "I'd only found out about Sasuke right before the school year ended."

As Boruto scrolls through my laptop full of bookmarked Sasuke articles, I pull my luggage out from under the bed. He notices a few things in a small secret compartment of the bag and I allow him to dig through it. "What're these?" he asks as I show him.

"Well, figuring I couldn't trust you what with how much you hated me when I got here," I say, "I thought I should try hiding these in case you ever tried to snoop."

"Believe me I did," Boruto agreed, making me stare at him for a moment. _He's just a boy Sarada. Let it go._ I take to my laptop to get a few more articles while Boruto pulls out a small wallet-sized photo album amidst my secret items. "What's this?"

"Oh," I notice. "Just a small photo book of people from home. I get homesick sometimes, so I'd bring that with me when I'd go on trips with my mom. I thought it'd be a little dangerous having it in my bag, so I made sure to keep it hidden."

"Can I look through it?"

"Go ahead." Just the fact he'd ask me my permission says a lot about how much Boruto's changed around me.

He takes one more bite of his cereal before he looks through the small Polaroids. The book can fit right in his hand, so it's no wonder he didn't see it. Each photo is one person, two at most. "There's Chouchou and you," Boruto notices.

"That us at her birthday," I smile, keeping my focus on the laptop.

"And Denki," Boruto turns. "Iwabe." He soon starts to see people he doesn't recognize. "How about these guys?"

Figuring his questions probably wouldn't be stopping any time soon, I scooch over to Boruto and look at it with him. "That's Karin, my babysitter. She's the one who's supposed to be watching me right now." I'm hoping she's receiving all my postcards at least. There's no way for her to reply, but I wish sometimes I could hear from her. I hope she's doing well. "And those two in the next photo are Suigetsu and Jugo, Karin's friends."

Buruto's face falls a little in nervousness. "They look pretty... aggressive."

I laugh. "They're a little intimidating looking, but they're pretty sweet. They practically raised me since I was a baby."

"Those guys holding babies," Boruto tries to imagine. They look like they just got out of prison for murder. But sure. Babysitters.

Boruto turns to the next few photos, not particularly feeling like asking me about every single face. "Whenever I feel homesick, I look at this and remember all the people I loved that are back at home waiting for me."

Boruto then wonders how many times I must've looked at this during my stay here. As he continues going through, he stops at the last one and holds it there for a while. It's a picture of the most beautiful woman. She has full gorgeous pink hair, and the brightest green eyes. And her smile is so gentle. Like a model almost; a sincere one.

Just seeing Boruto staring I can already tell he's wondering who it is. "That's my mother, Sakura Haruno."

"Y-Your mother?!" Boruto repeats, trying hard to not shout as loudly as he does. He quiets himself quickly, and looks between the photo and me, totally not believing me. "No."

I nod. "Yes."

"Guess you gets your looks from Sasuke a lot more than I thought," Boruto says out loud, staring hard at this woman's image. Though the longer he looks, he can see small subtle resemblances between mother and daughter. The eyes, the face, the smile and the kind of feeling both girls give off when you see them.

"She works as a fashion designer," I explain. "That's why all her photos always looks so good. She did some modeling back then too when I was younger."

"Wow..."

"Despite her flashy job, she always made time for me," I smile, remembering her. "We don't have this giant mansion either, or even a really nice house. Just a quaint apartment where she and I have enough room for just ourselves. It's a little cramp, but cozy, and welcoming. She always taught me the value of money and that everything she's been saving up has been for me and going to college."

"She sounds like a pretty tough woman."

"Raising me all by herself she had to be," I tell. "She never liked accepting help from people. That's just her nature. But she never gives up, and she's always thoughtful, and she's super strong and fit and healthy." I feel like I'm daydreaming remembering my mother. "She's amazing."

Boruto takes it all in, and looks back at the photo. All these qualities in such a beautiful woman. And this was the woman that Sasuke was with at one point. _It's hard to imagine a jerk like Sasuke being with somebody like this._ Yet here's their daughter right beside him. "Do you know their story?" Boruto speaks up. "Sasuke and your mom?"

I shake my head, setting down my half eaten cereal bowl. "My mom never talked to me about who my dad was. I had to find out on my own over here. I don't think she liked to talk about it." Boruto sits in silence with me as I try to let it all come back to me. "But when I was at Ino's, I found out she knew them back when they were younger. My parents met in high school in Japan and went out together."

"And then?"

I shrug my shoulders and pull my legs up to hug them. "Not sure what happened after. She left Japan to live in the U.S at some point, but Sasuke wasn't there with my mom when she was pregnant. And he wasn't there when I was born either. Maybe they split up after high school? But... they must've met up again at some point to have had me, so..." My shoulders slump, hitting more dead ends than I need. "Whatever the story, it seems very likely that Sasuke doesn't have a clue that he has a daughter. And I'd rather not ask to find out yet."

"So do you have any plans then?"

"Not a solid one," I admit. "Just that... I don't want our family to be broken anymore." I laugh to myself a little sadly. "At first my thought was that I just wanted to get to know my father... Then I thought, wouldn't it be cool of my parents got back together? But now... The longer I think on it, I think all I want is to just feel like I can have a mom and a dad. Even if they don't end up together... I want us all to be okay. You know?"

Boruto nods sympathetically. "I get it."

There's this silence of understanding between us, as I toy with my cereal in my bowl. I should really finish it before it gets too soggy.

"Well, if you asked me," Boruto starts, also resuming eating his unfinished cereal bowl. "My clearly superior intellect has come up with a strategy for you."

"Oh really," I humor.

"Hear me out," he preps, situating his seating so he's facing me. "So you want to know what split them up right? What made your mom move to the U.S?" I nod unsure. "And you want to know if Sasuke knows he has a daughter - we're assuming he doesn't know."

 _"I guess," I go on, watching Boruto take out my passport._

He begins flipping through it, looking for the right page. "Then all you really need to do is- Yow! Your passport photo looks like a completely different girl."

"I had to cut my hair and get glasses before I came here," I pout. "I didn't want anyone from home recognizing me if they saw me. Would you give me back my passport please?" I stand and try to get it from him, but he keeps it out of my reach, still staring hard at it. "And what was your highly-intellectual plan anyway?"

"This is your real birthrate right?" he ignores, pointing at the date beside my photo.

"Yeah."

"Back track nine months - find out where Sasuke was on that date," he figures. I can hear a bell ding go off in my head, and our physical struggling stops. Boruto's a genius. "That info's gonna be crucial to finding out what happened between your parents. And knowing Sasuke's there's tons of records of everything he did, and when and where." My face is still stuck in awe to reply, my brain racing. Boruto meanwhile looks back at my passport for a second glance, and then squints even harder at it. Then he checks his phone from his pocket for the date today. "Wait a sec, TODAY'S your birthday?" Boruto realizes.

I snap out of my thoughts to Boruto. "What?"

"Today. Your birth date's today," Boruto says, tossing me my passport.

Caught. "I-"

The sound of a knock echos around my dark room, and both Boruto and I shut up and our heads swipe to the door. A second later, Boruto's dumping my evidence in my luggage and I'm closing out all the windows on my screen before helping him shove my luggage under the bed.

Just in time, the door opens and Naruto's head sticks in from the blinding strip of light through the door. "Are you two up? Did you guys take the milk?" he asks groggily and suspiciously. He sees Boruto and I sitting on the floor together, the light of my laptop lighting us up in the dark. "...What're you guys doing?" he asks with a squint. The lowered volume of an anime is playing - making it look like we're just watching an episode of something online together.

"Dad don't snoop!" Boruto glares angrily, shoving up and pushing the milk pint into his father's stomach and pushing his head out of the room. The door shuts, and Boruto looks back at me with the same relief I have.

"That was too close," I warn.

"Don't avoid the previous topic. Your birthday's today," Boruto grins slyly, like it's some big dirty secret. I roll my eyes.

"Don't make such a big deal out of it. I've got a lot going on right now to worry about my birthday," I wave off. "Every day I have here counts. I can't waste it just having fun anymore. Besides, it's not like I'm part of the family or anything."

Boruto's face changes into a softer one, but before he can reply another knock comes through behind him. Annoyed, Boruto turns and opens the door wider. It's Naruto again. "Just remember you have your piano lessons today after breakfast," Naruto reminds. "Go get ready. I have a meeting after we drop you off."

"Can't I just skip today, Dad?"

"Why?" Naruto asks dumbfound. Boruto looks back at me and I eye him accusingly.

"Go," I urge, much to Boruto's chargain. He looks betrayed. Haha. I start typing something into my laptop. "I can finally get some peace around here. Now get out of my room."

"Come on let's go," Naruto drags, grabbing the back of his son's shirt and slowly pulling him out of the room.

"This isn't over!" Boruto yells at me. I laugh and sit back against the bottom of my bed, staring at my screen. I just opened an email from Chochou and the guys, all wishing me happy birthday. A photo of them with a cake they baked saying 'Happy Birthday Sarada' on it. There are candles lit and everything.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Boruto and Naruto are riding in the limo this morning. Once the driver drops Boruto off for his music lessons, Naruto's off to work. Usually Boruto's playing some game, but now he's just all cross armed and pouting out the window.

Naruto notices and arches a brow. "You're in a more sour mood than usual," Naruto says. "You don't have your game. Is something going on?"

"Nothing," Boruto says stubbornly. Naruto's face narrows with worry, and Boruto rolls his eyes. "It's just... today's Sarada's birthday."

Naruto's eyes widen.

The two sit in silence in the limo as it sinks in that today is a very normal for work day - save for Boruto's music lessons today. _But more or less Sarada's alone on her birthday today._ Boruto looks out the window, wondering if there's anything he could do at least towards the end of the day. _After everything she did for my birthday when she didn't even like me, I feel like crap not being able to do anything now._

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

After a quick shower, I took myself downstairs for a real breakfast. With Boruto and Naruto out of the house, it probably won't be as lively around the house today. The smell of bacon and eggs fill the main ballroom on my way down, and I wonder who's in the kitchen right now. Probably just Hinata.

However coming in I see just Sasuke alone at the table, with two place mats at the table and two plates - one clearly mine.

"G-Good morning," I greet, seeing no one else here.

Sasuke puts his coffee and phone down momentarily. "Hey."

I take my seat across Sasuke at the table and look around one more time from my seat. "Is Hinata not here?"

"She's out running grocery errands this morning," Sasuke tells, sipping his coffee again. "She made us breakfast before just heading out now."

"Ah, I see." I bite into the still warm eggs and feel the love Hinata's food always has. I wish I could cook like this.

"I'll be attending a public event at noon," Sasuke tells me over breakfast. "It's a city council appearance. Would you be able to make it with me?"

"And act as your child-charity-protegee? Sure," I laugh, earning a small amused smile from him.

"I wanted to thank you for always putting up with going to these events."

"It's what I'm here for aren't I?" I point out, more casually now. "I like to think of it as my rent. I make you look good to the public, you let me stay. Seems fair."

"You make it seem so shallow and calculated," Sasuke comments. I stifle a laugh and continue to eat with Sasuke. Sure it's just the two of us, and yeah Sasuke still ha some work he does at the table on his phone, but this is nice. Really nice.

A small buzz of a text comes on Sasuke's phone while he's checking emails. _It's from Naruto_. Sasuke checks it immediately. Naruto was going to a conference uptown to discuss a business deal. Maybe something had come up.

 _ **NARUTO:**_  
 _ **Boruto said it's Sarada's birthday today.**_  
 _ **You better do something.**_

Sasuke blinks at his phone a little wide-eyed. In between bites I can't help but notice. "What's up?" I ask, wondering if it's something bad.

Sasuke glances at me momentarily, then back to his phone, then to me again. "Is today your birthday?"

.

.

.

My lack of a response is enough to tell Sasuke apparently, because he sighs back into his seat. How'd he find out? "How come you never said anything?"

My once hefty appetite is suddenly gone, and I'm just picking at my food with my fork. "You know I already feel like a burden living here in your mansion with everyone on a normal day. You shouldn't have to do anything special just because it's my birthday. It's not like I'm part of the actual family household or anything."

Sasuke was a little surprised at the answer, and before he can make a decent comeback to that a maid appears at the table. "My apologies, sir. I'm here to remind you of the City Counsel event. You'll be leaving in an hour."

"Thank you," Sasuke dismisses. The maid bows and leaves us.

"I guess I should go get ready," I say, wiping my mouth. "I'll use one of the dresses Hinata bought me."

"I'm sorry for the work day," Sasuke apologizes as I get up. An 'I'm sorry'? From Sasuke? "I'd clear the day if I could, you know."

"It's fine. It could be fun," I shrug, trying to make it easier on the guy. The gesture that he would clear his schedule for the day is enough for me anyway.

"We'll think of something special for the evening," Sasuke smiles, and it sends warm butterflies in my stomach as I nod and hurry to get ready. Maybe a day alone with Sasuke will in itself be a fun birthday.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"A thirty minute break! Be back right after and not a moment later!"

The instructor has let out all the students, and Boruto exits with Shikadai, Mitsuki and Inojin into the hallway. Other kids leave down the hall towards the cafeteria where some vending machines would be. "I can't believe our parents signed us up for this," Inojin complains.

"At least it's a one day lesson," Mitsuki notes. "Though I don't know if I can learn the flute in one day."

"But does it have to be all day? I hate the guitar. I can't feel my fingers. Then we have what, six more hours of this crap?" Shikadai frowns. "And it's a Sunday. My mom woke me up early for this."

"At least Sarada doesn't have to put up with this," Inojin sighs. "Part of me still can't believe she's Sasuke's daughter."

"Trust me, it's weird seeing them together all the time when you know it," Boruto says. He kicks over a nearby trashcan. "Screw these music lessons. I wish I could just go home already."

"Someone misses his girlfriend," Mitsuki teases.

"She is not my girlfriend," Boruto denies plainly. "I found out today's her birthday from her passport, and she's probably all alone in the mansion." The guys all stop what they're doing and look back at Boruto, sulking against the wall. He looks, rather sympathetic. "I just feel really crappy about it since she doesn't want to do anything."

"Would it risk exposing her secret to Sasuke if she did?" Mitsuki asks curiously.

"Maybe. But I don't think that's why she kept quiet about it," Boruto ponders, hands in pockets. "After all this time and even after that whole fiasco with her friends coming over, she still feels like she doesn't belong." His eyes narrow a little. "How could she think that?"

The boys all look at each other first. Seeing Boruto this... vulnerable. It's definitely a sight. "Well, she didn't exactly have the comfort level to tell us her secret in the first place," Inojin reasons.

"It'd help if you stopped calling her 'commoner', for one," Shikadai criticizes to Inojin.

"And all the stuff you guys and her did for my birthday?" Boruto brings up. "We can't pull anything off like that, especially with this stupid music class today." Boruto's never been so thoughtful before, especially for a girl who he claims isn't a crush. Of course the boys can see right through him.

"Alright, buddy." Shikadai hangs his arm around Boruto's shoulders "Let's you and us have a talk for a second."

"About what?"

"You dunce, you know what," Inojin adds, joining his arm hooked along behind Boruto's neck as well.

" _NO_ I don't know what now will you guys LET GO!"

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Within the hour, I'd combed out my hair and put on a presentable royal blue dress wit a white lace collar. Simple yet pretty. A limo had Sasuke and I driven to the event a little out of town. it was at a city hall-like building, for starters. And no longer was I stranger to the mingling of blue bloods.

I've accompanied Sasuke to a few events as his charming and cute accessory to show off the charity of the Uchihas, and I've learned over the past few weeks that I'm often the only child at these events. Maybe two or three others at my eye level, but the other kids never bother to speak to me. I'll just follow Sasuke around, shake hands, meet people and give or receive the same rehearsed speech.

I at least expected that much today.

But oddly enough, today, this time, it was incredibly boring and aggravating. This event had tables, and assigned seating. So instead of meeting and hence then ditching the strangers we would often meet, Sasuke and I were seated to the snootiest of snooty old rich men at this fine table.

"Children can be so troublesome, wouldn't you agree Mr. Showdue."

"Quite quite," the mustachio nods feverently. "I sent my daughter to finishing school to straighten her out. Mr. Uchiha, do you and your daughter ever get into any squabbles at home?"

"Mr. Showdue that's his summer orphan guest not his daughter," another old man with a monocle corrects in a heavy accent. "Do you really think an Uchiha would bring his own daughter with hair-keep such as that?" It takes all I have to not facially react to that infuriating comment.

"Most of my maids have off for the weekend," Sasuke speaks on our behalf. "They are normally in charge of dressing her."

"Ah no wonder she looks like that. She must've dressed herself!" another bitter old man speaks up.

I am so ready to pull this table cover and ruin all their fine china dishes. I feel Sasuke's hand grasp mine under my table, in an attempt to calm me down. I can only hope he's also getting fed up with all this. "Sasuke if you'd like, I have connections with a fine boarding school in London."

"That's perfectly fine, Mr. Hamada," Sasuke politely declines. "If you'll excuse me I have to make a phone call. Sarada, come with me."

"Yes," I obey, rather gratefully actually. A polite bow out and Sasuke leaves out to the lobby of the venue where less people are. _Phone call my ass he just wanted to get away as much as I did_. "You liar, you didn't need to make a phone call," I catch once we're out.

"You should be grateful I didn't leave you there," he chuckles. "I'm sorry for this, really. That was way out of line. This whole party is, actually."

"It's okay. A lot of their comments were directed at me, not you," I try to say. Not sure if that means much though. "I'm sorry for making you look bad."

Sasuke scoffs. "Don't worry about it. I don't know why my company bothers to partner with people like this. I could care less for what they think of my image." Sasuke takes a deep breath in and out. I guess those guys were testing his patience too. "Say, why don't we get out of here?"

 _Wait._ "What?" Did Sasuke really just suggest what I think he suggested?

"Do you really want to stick around here?"

"W-Well no but, is it okay to just leave?"

"I'm not obligated to stay," Sasuke says in as professional a tone as possible. "The same way you're not obligated to put up with people who disrespect you like that." But isn't it my job to be a suck up to these rich people? "I won't ask twice."

Sasuke's really ditching a blue blood shindig. It feels a little like a dream. A weird one. "Sure," I say warily. Yet there's this exciting undertone to this idea. "Yeah. Let's go."

Sasuke wastes no time turning around to walk away, I almost have to run after him. We leave the venue through the turn table doors, and we're outside in my pretty blue dress and his suit. It's a little warmer today so Sasuke removes his shades from his pocket and removes his blazer. "What time is it," he asks me.

I pull my phone from my pocket. "It's 1:05."

"Our driver won't be back here until five," Sasuke tells me.

"Can't you just call him?" I ask simply. Or a taxi even?

I can see Sasuke pondering the thought behind his shades. "Why don't we just hang around for a while until then instead," he suggests, earning him another double glance from me. "I'm sure it'd be more interesting than being cooped back up in the mansion again."

"If this is about the birthday thing it's fine Sasuke, really-"

"This isn't just for you," Sasuke says, lifting his shades for a moment to look down at me. "I haven't had any real down time in a while, much less outside." Now that I think about it, whenever Sasuke leaves the house it's always for events like this, or business meetings, or something work related with Naruto. I can tell. Someone always announces Sasuke's schedule for the day at breakfast - where he's going, at what time, with whom, until when.

None of it ever sounded exciting or fun.

 _Is this seriously his first time out with nothing to do?_

"Show me what you do for fun," Sasuke says, almost like an order.

 _He's trying to be nice for my birthday._ The effort is a little more obvious than he'd probably like to show, but the grin in my face starts to make it's way. "You know, this city is a lot like where I came from back in my home," I say. "Come on. I know the perfect place to go first." Taking Sasuke's hand I drag him across the street before anyone can see us leaving.

The first place I drag us to is a very average looking clothes outlet shop. After picking up some clothes that I picked for both of us, we changed into them to wear for the day. I picked out a hoodie sweatshirt and skirt for me, some long dark socks and new sneakers, as well as a casual bucket hat to hide my hair under. I also put my glasses away for the mean time.

As for Sasuke, it took some arguing, but we settled on something that I know for sure no one will recognize him in. First - losing all types of formal suit-like aesthetics - I convinced him to get some dark blue jeans, and we settled on a casual and clean white button down shirt. And over that he wears a casual fitted hoodie. I swore I could see some girls swooning over him as we exited the dressing rooms. Guess his charm is impossible to get rid of.

"There! You look great!" I compliment. I could tell how uncomfortable he must be, wearing such normal clothes out. "Trust me. No one will recognize us like this."

Sasuke eyes my choice in clothing. Though not too far from what I would normally wear in the house, it was pretty hard to recognize me at all with all my hair hidden under the hat, and my glasses put away. In fact, the little girl before him looked completely different without her red frames. "Can you see without your glasses?" Sasuke asks.

"Not too far, but it's not like I'm blind," I smile. "Alright, you asked for a normal fun day out right?"

"Right."

"Have you ever been to an ice cream parlor?"

* * *

 **Father Daughter Bonding time!**

 **Haha, I've been waiting to get to a chapter where it's just Sasuke and Sarada doing some cheesy outing together! And Boruto's finally starting to come to terms with his feelings! What do you guys think they should do on her birthday too?**

 **But anyway, this chapter's a little shorter than my usual ones. Sorry ;_; my jobs have been taking up a lot of time lately so I haven't been able to write as much. Though I did have somebody ask how often I update this story! I hadn't meant to, but for the past couple chapters I seem to update every Sunday as of late. Usually it'll take me a week or two to update tough, I wanna say - but it totally depends on my work schedule for the week. I try my best to keep writing chapters ahead so there's something to publish every week, but if I don't then hopefully you understanding readers know why haha.**

 **Ever grateful for your support and criticisms! I read every single one and appreciate them all!  
Have a good day guys and enjoy the preview!**

 _ **PREVIEW:**_

 ** _"So, tell me about your high school girlfriend," I say eagerly, walking ahead and turning around to face Sasuke. I walk backwards carefully yet energetically. "Please? What was she like?"_**

 ** _"You don't want to hear about that."_**

 ** _"Yes I do. For my birthday," I plead._**

 ** _"Why do you want to know so bad?"_**

 ** _"I'm just interested to know what kind of girl you'd be into," I say honestly. "It's not like I see you interact with women a lot or go on dates or anything."_**

 _ **x-x-x-x-x-x**_

 _ **"Oh happy~birthday on your special day~" I start slowly, trying to remind him.**_

 _ **"That you are very precious, is, what we want to say~" he sings along, him trying to follow along with me until he gets it by himself. "And congratulations sent your way~..."**_

 _ **I sit back, trying to remember my wish.**_

 _ **"So haaapy~birthday~today~..." Boruto finishes singing as I blow out the candle.**_

 _ **x-x-x-x-x-x**_

 _ **Shikadai's ride arrives and honks.**_

 _ **The boy stands up and dusts his pants off, leaving Boruto sitting on the stairs, sincerely confused. "I'm just saying think about it. It's obvious to the rest of us already," Shikadai ends. "She's a cool girl. You're a smart guy." Boruto's face remains the same. "Start acting like it."**_

 _ **Shikadai starts to walk away. A few steps later, Shikadai looks back.**_

 _ **"And tell Sarada happy birthday for us."**_


	12. Me and my Dad Pt2

**Chapter 12: Me and My Dad Pt.2**

 _ **It's Sarada's birthday today! However to keep her identity undercover she doesn't want to celebrate it. Boruto thinks otherwise, and so does Sasuke when he indirectly finds out. In a side story, the guys interrogate Boruto on his developing feelings for his room mate.**_

* * *

I was able to find a small quaint little ice creme parlor a few blocks away from where we got our disguise clothes. It took some convincing, but Sasuke caved in for me eventually.

Soon enough he and I were sitting at one of the outside tables under an umbrella. A cute cone-holder is put on the table to hold our giant ice cream cone, with two small spoons inside it. Sasuke insisted on just sharing one ice cream since he wasn't too into sweets to get his own. "If you weren't into sweets we could've gone somewhere else," I said, tasting the three flavors we got on the cone. He let me pick them all - Vanilla, Rose, and Jasmine.

However Sasuke doesn't say anything to my comment, and I piece together he must've gone along with it to please me - which is sweet in a Sasuke-sort-of-way. Sasuke tries at least one bite of the vanilla. He sits casually in the chair with his hood up over his hair, and I realize this is one of the first times I've ever seen him outside so... normal before.

"So," I begin, before he can realize I'm staring. "Tell me about yourself."

"Tell you what?"

"You know. What you're like outside of being 'Sasuke Uchiha', the most intimidating bachelor in the highest class of wealth in Japan," I say mock-threateningly. "Like, what were you like as a kid?"

"Does this kind of stuff really interest you?"

I nod eagerly, and I can see him fighting it in his face.

But he caves eventually, and thinks about an answer. "Ever since I was younger my dad was set on me taking over Uchiha Enterprises," he begins, and I lean in. "I have an older brother, who was naturally first in line for all this, but he had other plans."

Wow. "You have a brother, Sasuke?"

"He's not too interesting," Sasuke says in that condescending tone. "He travels a lot. Always enjoyed it. Naturally family responsibilities fell down to me when it came to it. It was my mother who wanted me to have a more normal life." I scoot my chair closer to the table and fold my elbows on top of the table, completely invested in his story. Sasuke chuckles at my enthusiasm. "She was the one who decided it was best to send me to attend high school. A normal one. And know this was after coming right out of an elite blue-blood preparatory elementary school. It was a pretty big shift."

"What was that like?" I laugh my eyes glistening with curiosity.

Sasuke shrugs. "Not much to say surprisingly, besides it being a decently humbling experience. Had a girlfriend, did some sports, the normal expectation for high school experiences. "

My next inquiry was about to be his girlfriend - 'had a girlfriend' meaning 'one girlfriend'. Meaning Mom. But before I can ask I hear a few clicks of camera flashes, and in the distance Sasuke and I see some paparazzi photographers hiding in plain clothes, their fancy cameras the only thing recognizable on them. I frown, knowing this means we probably have to leave.

"We better get out of here," Sasuke says apologetically. I nod and unwillingly leave behind the ice cream on the table as he grabs my hand to speed walk out of the vacinity. As sad as I am that we had to cut our ice cream date short, I'm more upset that the story got interrupted. But I feel a small warm bubble in my heart as my father runs with my hand in his and leads me to pick up the pace.

He remembers mom.

And that even more so makes me smile with hope.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

After getting away from the cameras, we landed in the local city park, which lucky for us wasn't too dense with people. Mostly joggers and moms with strollers. The weather was perfect, and with the shade of the trees it just felt perfect. In the middle of the park near some vending machines under a veranda, there was a photo booth.

Sasuke of course had to say that he'd never been in one before. The next thing he knew, I was pushing us inside to get one done right away.

And that in itself was hilariously super fun.

Trying to get Sasuke to do just anything in that photo booth was challenging. We had four pictures in one strip. The first one was me lecturing Sasuke to basically smile or do something. The second one was Sasuke cornered and bewildered as I opened my mouth wide for the biggest disturbing smile. In the third one, Sasuke and I were both laughing as I tried to put my hat on him, and the fourth one was the most normal. Just the two of us actually smiling, or Sasuke smiling as much as his personality will allow him to. That one was nice.

I stand outside the booth as the photo strip prints out and into the pick up slot. "Yay!" I eek excitedly as I pull it out. Sasuke hovers over my shoulder curiously as we look at them. Oh they're so silly. Especially the first three. "These came out great."

"We're never doing that again," Sasuke chuckles.

"Oh come on you loved it," I tease, admiring them as we walk off. "Did you want them Sasuke?"

Sasuke looks down at me, and is almost afraid to say no. He picks up the strip from my hands and tears the bottom one off. "I'll keep this one."

I smile wordlessly, glad he was at least interested in one of them. I try to keep from smiling even wider as he puts the small photo into his wallet. "So, tell me about your high school girlfriend," I say eagerly, walking ahead and turning around to face him. I walk backwards carefully yet energetically. "Please? Tell me what was she like?"

"You don't want to hear about that."

"Yes I do. For my birthday," I plead.

"Why do you want to know so bad?"

"I'm just interested to know what kind of girl you'd be into," I say honestly. "It's not like I see you interact with women a lot or go on dates or anything."

Sasuke takes a deep breath and racks his thoughts. "She was definitely something. Not any normal girl with just a pretty face." I return to walk on his side as this gentle expression falls on him, remembering. "She was strong, independent. She didn't care for my money or status, and treated me completely normal as opposed to everyone else actually."

"Did she treat you nicely?"

"No actually," Sasuke scoffs. "She was a jerk to me half our high school career. A pain in my ass really." Oh my god Mom. "She talked down to me often, and found new ways to irritate me beyond belief."

"Oh..." I'm trying to hide my laugher, or sadness, or shock overall. Geez Mom what did you do to the poor man?

But I can see Sasuke actually smile. Like, smile-smile, for the first time - by just thinking about her. I can only hope he thinks of my mother fondly. "She was a fun person to be around," he admits. "I think she was my first real normal friend ever if you want the truth. Despite her annoying tendencies, she was just, someone who understood me. Me as a person and not as some super rich kid set to take over Uchiha Enterprises, you know?"

"Yeah, I get it," I nod. Suddenly I remember Boruto saying something along those lines to me.

 _"I mean, Shikadai and the guys are great. Don't get me wrong. And don't tell them this but... You're probably my real first friend that just, gets things. Gets me. Wants to understand me, and everyone else." Boruto bites his lips, probably starting to realize how cheesy he sounds. His cheeks redden and he looks way. "You're cool," he surmises. "I want to help you because I want to help you."_

Thinking about it, the world of the rich must be pretty lonely when you're looking for sincere people who care about you - you as a person. I always wondered why Mom never opted for the more opulent and richer life style. We could totally afford it back home - maybe not a mansion like here, but a house and fancy clothes maybe - but Mom always cut back and made our lifestyle much more middle class on purpose. Now I can see why.

"She sounds amazing," I finally say, admiring Sasuke's peace of mind as he opened up about my mother. "What ever happened to you guys?"

"You know. Sometimes things just don't work out," Sasuke ends plainly. "Sometimes it's for the best."

"Do you ever miss her?"

"What's with all these questions about my love life?" he asks me curiously.

"You just looked so into her when you were talking about her! Come on you totally still love her."

"And you are totally blowing things out of proportion," he humors, ruffling my hair under my hat.

I laugh as I try to swat his hand away, until I'm walking beside him on his left again. "But seriously Sasuke, aren't you ever curious to how she turned out? If she ever remarried? How she's doing?"

"Whatever she's doing with her life is her business," Sasuke admits maturely. "Even when we were together, she was never one to be tied down to somebody in order to make her life decisions." That sounds like Mom.

"... You never thought of dating again either?" I bravely ask. Of course I get this accusatory look from him. "I'm curious! You've, never looked interested in anybody the entire time I've been here."

"Obviously running a company is tedious work. I don't have any time nor the interest to be dating anybody." Hearing the disinterest in his voice is somewhat discouraging. I mean it's nice he's never found somebody to replace mom, but... you know. "Like I said, I'm not a family man like Naruto."

"You wouldn't even want to try?"

Sasuke shakes his head no, a direct enough answer that surprises me. "It's not worth it."

 _It's not worth it?_ A very sad, very thought provoking answer. What the hell happened between Mom and Dad to make them never want to try dating again? Mom's never remarried either, but neither has Sasuke. And I feel like it's beyond whatever trouble happened between them personally.

"I think it could be," I say quietly, a little sad.

"What was that?"

"Loving somebody," I say thoughtfully, still walking along Sasuke's slowed pace. "I know it's not easy, and it's not perfect, but... I definitely think it can all be worth it."

"Have you ever loved anybody before?" Sasuke asks down at me.

"I was never ' _in-love_ ', but I've loved before," I answer. "And I've experienced all the trouble that comes with loving people, but in the end, I still think it's worth it."

My mom. My friends. My face-less father, now actually here. I love them. "Yeah they make me sad. Angry sometimes. That's a given when you're so close to people. You can only really get so angry and hateful towards people you love, because they matter enough to be capable of hurting you." There's a silence from Sasuke's end, and I realize I must've been rambling. "Sorry, I didn't mean to give such a weird answer."

"No, don't apologize. I was listening," Sasuke nods. That makes me feel somewhat better at least.

"I think I love my mom the most." I pause, wondering what exactly I can say. I won't lie - the thought of telling him here and now _the truth_ is totally crossing my mind. But something in my gut tells me now isn't right. "My mom is... really important to me," I manage out. "She's been supporting me her whole life. She's the most important person to me in the world."

"Have you ever hated anyone then?"

"Hated?" I repeat, my eyes a little glazy from all this thinking. I always thought of 'love' and 'hate' as really strong words that I'll seldom use on people. "... I thought I hated my father."

"Your dad?"

"He's.., not in the picture."

"I see," Sasuke says. By his tone I can't tell if there's any empathy or if he's just taking my answers as casually as possible.

"My parents split up a long time ago. I grew up not really knowing my dad, and when times got tough it was really easy to just feel hateful towards him." I could go on about the small times I felt angry at my nameless father, but I keep it in for the sake of hiding my secret. "It wasn't all the time, but I felt like if I hated him... that must've meant I loved him. Or, I wanted to."

"Do you still love him?"

I nod, no second thoughts to it. "I do."

"Why?" Sasuke asks. By looking at him he looks sincerely confused, not understanding me. "He abandoned his kid. How could you still love someone like that?"

I shrug. "Whether he realizes it or not, he helped bring me into the world. Even if he's not here now, I owe him at least that as a father."

"Sounds like a pretty shitty reason to love a man," Sasuke says, staring off into the rain with me. "It's easy to bring a kid into the world. Staying in their world is the important hard part. He did nothing to deserve his daughter's respect."

"It's okay," I try. "Seriously. I'm not a little kid anymore. I know whatever went on between my parents had nothing to do with me, so I don't blame myself for my dad not being around."

"I'd hope so," Sasuke says. He's in total protective mode I can tell, like I just told him about some bully who took my lunch money. "He's lucky to have a daughter who still admires him. Not every kid is like that." I'm trying to take in everything he's actually saying. "You deserve a lot better."

Hearing that brings some peace of mind to this conversation. With a smile as I try not to get too emotional, I end up wrapping my arms around the side of Sasuke's waist, us still keeping up with the walk. "Thanks."

Hesitantly, and eventually, I feel Sasuke's hand rest on my shoulder too. "Don't mention it." He's not shoving me away, which I'm going to believe is a good sign. I smile a bit until I feel a rain drop on my arm. Then a few more. "Looks like it's about to pour," Sasuke says, looking up and tugging a bit on his hood. "Come on. It's getting late. We better get back to the venue before our driver beats us there."

"Fine," I submit. At first I think he's going to remove his arm from my shoulders or have me let go, but he runs this clumsy run with me so we can keep attached together. The fact he makes the effort to do so makes me hug him harder as we run to beat the rain.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Meanwhile back in our home town with the boys, their music lessons finally ended for the day. It was nearing sunset with some rain clouds pulling in, an unusual but beautiful sight in itself. Boruto and his friends all exit the building to wait out on the large concrete staircase out front for their drivers to come pick them up.

"Would you guys drop the Sarada thing already?" Boruto begs exhaustively. Ever since their first lunch break, the guys have been on a nonstop case trying to convince Boruto he had a crush on his in-home roommate.

 _"Alright, buddy." Shikadai hangs his arm around Boruto's shoulders. "Let's you and us have a talk for a second."_

 _"About what?"_

 _"You dunce, you know what," Inojin adds, joining his arm hooked along behind Boruto's neck as well._

 _"NO I don't know what now will you guys LET GO!"_

 _All three boys drag Boruto down the hall and up to the building's roof for their lunch break. Mitsuki picked them up some snacks from a vending machine for them to eat, while they all had this giant 'intervention-like' conversation._

 _"You're always the one bringing her up on conversation."_

 _"And you're always super protective of her."_

 _"Not to mention easily jealous."_

 _"And you turn red whenever we bring up anything about you and her."_

 _"I do not!" he yells, totally red. All boys stare at him silently, Boruto having totally proved them right in every aspect. "I have no idea what you guys are talking about. It's just room-mate stuff, that's all."_

It's easy to say it was the longest drag of a lunch break Boruto's ever had. It made him wish to go back to today's music lessons so bad. And now that the day's lessons were over, his friends were back at it. Luckily Mitsuki's and Inojin's drivers arrived to get them.

"Just think about it buddy," Inojin winks with some hand gestures as he walks down the stairs.

Mitsuki follows in suit. "You'll figure it out eventually."

"Get out of here," Boruto waves off, left with Shikadai. The two sit alone as the two fancy cars drive off down the street. "You guys are really starting to annoy me with this whole Sarada thing. Is this fun for you or something?"

"It's fun because you're in such denial, dude," Shikadai says honestly. "Be real here. She's a cute girl living in your house. You're not on the worst terms. Can you honestly say it's never crossed your mind?"

"Well I-"

"Seriously," Shikadai says with the most accusatory yet sincere look. "I won't pester you like the other two but talk with me here."

Boruto stops and thinks, enjoying the decent weather first. Sarada would like this. And there he goes thinking about her out of the blue again. Maybe the guys have a point. "It's not like it hasn't crossed my mind before. I'm not an idiot."

"Uhuh," Shikadai agrees with a scoff.

"Like, it's Sarada! She's like a bro. Besides she came here for one specific purpose - not to go boy hunting or anything like that."

"Regardless of that," Shikadai starts, trying to rewind a bit, "this is about you - not her."

"What?" Boruto scrunches up, totally confused.

Shikadai's ride arrives and honks its horn. The boy stands up and dusts his pants off, leaving Boruto sitting sincerely confused. "I'm just saying think about it. It's obvious to the rest of us already. She's a cool girl. You're a smart guy. Start acting like it." A few steps later, Shikadai looks back. "And tell Sarada happy birthday for us."

"W-Will do."

Shikadai runs down the stairs to meet with his driver, and Boruto's left by himself with conflicted thoughts about Sarada. _I don't like Sarada like that. I'm sure of it._ But as per Shikadai's request, Boruto does try to imagine it. Out friendship, our moments, how our relationship developed from the moment we ran into each other at the airport. "Do I...?"

Right on cue, a few rain drops start to fall.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

It's nearing sunset already, fairly pink and orange and red out from the rain as well. There's something really beautiful about the somehow not cloudy rain and sunset. Sasuke and I were on our way out of the park to head back to the party venue, when it really started pouring on and off. We decided to take some shelter under a bus stop for a little bit. According to Sasuke's phone, the rain should stop in about ten minutes.

"Brrr," I shiver, shaking my sleeves of the water. We're both completely drenched down to the bone. "Haha, you look funny."

"Whatever," Sasuke says, taking off his hood now that we were in some shelter. His hair was a little moist, and I do so too to remove my hat.

My short hair is all flat from the water that soaked through the hat in the first place. Instinctively I shake my head to try and dry off my hair, not realizing I was getting Sasuke wet. He winces a little and I stop, terrified of his reaction. "Oh my god I'm so sorry.'

He chuckles, shaking his sleeves too a bit. "I'm already soaked. It's no problem." Old Sasuke would've totally and ultimately ditched me for that. "When we get home I want you changed and in bed. If you get sick you're grounded."

"What? That's not my fault."

"If you let it happen it is," Sasuke said in his casual tone, leaving me to pout. Sasuke finally looks down at me, and I wonder if I look as much of a mess as I think I do.

However for a second for the Uchiha, he notices just how different I look with a change of clothes, with the hair and no glasses - a completely different girl than the one he's been housing for over a month. Almost familiar. "What is it...?" I say slowly, realizing he's staring down at me.

"You must look a lot like your parents," Sasuke says out of no where, and my heart skips a beat. I hope he doesn't recognize me here and now. But then he shakes his head. "Sorry, that came out of no where."

"I-It's alright." I guess he's dropping it. We stand in silence together as a car speeds down the street. A puddle of water splashes onto the sidewalk in front of our feet, barely missing us.

"Sorry your birthday couldn't be more fun," Sasuke brings up.

"Are you kidding? This _was_ fun," I assure him. "I got to have some quality time with _Sasuke Uchiha_ , richest man in Japan."

"Doing some not so rich things."

"Which was the fun part," I correct, smiling up at him. "I got to finally hang out with _you_. Trust me, despite the rain and the running, I had a lot of fun on my birthday today. So thank you for taking me out."

"Hn. You're surprisingly very easy to please."

"My mom says that too," I laugh, and like that we just stand and wait together. The rain is still pouring down hard, but in the distance I can see the sunset, and the light hiding the wet surfaces of things. Like the trees, signs, buildings. It's reflective and pretty. "To be honest... I thought I was going to be pretty lonely today." I sit back on the small waiting bench, to rest my legs. "With everyone out of the house and, I thought you'd be working all day too - it was gonna be just me in the mansion. I mean, it's not the worst thing. I would've been fine. But..."

"But?" he asks, listening.

"... My mom always makes sure to be home on my birthday. If she has work, she'll try to leave as early as possible to be with me," I remember suddenly feeling very homesick. "This was going to be my first birthday without her. I wondered if I was going to be lonely at all today. But, hey," I chuckle, "This was a pretty nice preview of what it would've been like to have a dad."

I don't know if that was too forward to say, but Sasuke doesn't say anything. Instead there's the littlest hint of a smile, and we watch the rest of the sunset together just like that. Just in time, the rain starts to lighten up bit by bit.

x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Our limo drops us off together back at the mansion later that night, and we walk up to the front door dripping water everywhere. Of course when we enter, Naruto just so happens to be coming out of the kitchen and into the ball room with some papers he was probably reading over. "Hey you guys are home. Where the hell were-" Naruto stops in his tracks, seeing us in our completely drenched clothes - clothes that we would never be caught dead wearing at a charity event. "W-W-What..."

"Don't say anything," Sasuke orders as a maid shows up with towels. Sasuke takes one and tosses me one. "Get up. Dry off. Go to bed. I'll send something warm up in a bit."

"Alright," I say, finally feeling the cold. Two steps later I run back to Sasuke and hug him really tight really fast. "Thank you for today," I whisper with a grin. I can almost imagine Sasuke smiling too. Once I let go I hug my towel and I pass Naruto on my way to the stairs. I can still feel his bewildered stare behind me.

Naruto looks back to Sasuke, who's drying his hair. "I got a call from city hall. They said you disappeared mid way through the event."

"We stepped out."

"Clearly," Naruto scoffs as the maid leaves. "Where the hell did you two go? You're soaking wet," he says, almost laughing. "And what on earth are you wearing?"

"I'm tired. I'm going to bed early," Sasuke dodges easily, placing the towel around his neck on his way out. "Have a maid send some hot tea up to my room will you? And to Sarada's too."

"Yeah yeah," Naruto chuckles, letting his friend go. "Want me to add a cupcake or something for Sarada?"

"... Yeah," Sasuke says. "Do you mind?"

Naruto doesn't have to think too hard to know what probably happened on our outing, and he's pretty fine with the outcome. "No problem man."

Sasuke heads back to his room while Naruto goes to the kitchen to prepare some tea.

Meanwhile Boruto's at the dinner table, eating alone. He's picking at his food, still distracted from Shikadai's talk earlier. _I do not like her_ , he denies in his head. Boruto hears his father's footsteps come back in and turn on the hot water boiler.

"Sasuke and Sakura came back," Naruto announces, catching his son's attention.

"They're back late," Boruto notes. "I thought they were just going to an event at city hall."

His dad laughs. "Yeah. I think Sasuke and Sarada snuck out of the party early and hung out today. They were all dressed in casual clothes and soaked from the rain."

Boruto makes a face. " _Sasuke_?"

"Yeah Sasuke," Naruto agrees, having had the same initial reaction. "I messaged him earlier that it was Sarada's birthday. Guess he did something about it after all." The finished hot water starts to pour itself into the two mugs. One for Sasuke and one for me. Meanwhile Naruto looks in the fridge for any cake. "How were music lessons today?"

"They were fine," Boruto lies, still picking at his plate.

Naruto prepares two trays. One for Sasuke and his tea, and one for me as well. He sets the tea, a very small birthday cake he picked up from the bakery earlier after his meeting, and a lighter and some candles. "I've gotta take this tray up to Sasuke. Would you mind bringing this one to Sarada? Tell her is from Sasuke and me?" Naruto asks. He tries not to laugh at his son's reddened face. "It's not that heavy I promise."

"Whatever," Boruto pouts, getting up from the table and picking up the tray from his father's arms. The amused Naruto watches his son exit carefully with the tray of birthday goods.

Meanwhile upstairs, I'm blow drying my hair and have changed into some decent house clothes. I also remembered to put my glasses back on. As fun as it was running with Sasuke in the rain, it feels nice to be warm and dry again. "Maybe Sasuke still loves my mom after all..."

But what made them split up? Family stuff? Money? Something else?

"And he totally omitted seeing her again after high school..." They had to have met up at least one more time in order to have had me. Why would Sasuke hide that?

A knock brings up out of my thoughts, and I shut the hair dryer. "Come in."

Boruto peeks his head in first. "Hey." Then he comes in fully, holding a full tray of stuff. A mug and a small round fancy cake enough for two people. "Sasuke and my dad wanted me to bring this up to you."

"Thanks," I say, trying to hide my obvious shock. I walk up and look a the tiny cake. No wording on it, but there are little Sakura flowers frosted tastefully around it. I notice some candles on the side and a lighter. "Is this supposed to be a birthday cake for me?"

"Looks like it," Boruto chuckles lightly. I gratefully take the tea first and sit on the bed. Boruto sits next to me and sets the tray down between us. "I heard Sasuke took you with him to the city hall event."

"It was alright," I lie, "But Sasuke and I got to ditch it actually."

"No way," he laughs.

"Yes way," I remember, pulling out the photo booth photos from my desk. I come back to he bed and show Boruto excitedly.

His eyes widen at the proof of Sasuke goofing off from his responsibilities. "Oh my god this is gold!" Boruto laughs, eyeing each one closely as if to see it's real.

"I asked him about his high school girlfriend," I manage out, almost sighing. "He.. really liked her." Boruto looks up from the pictures. "Call me crazy but, I think he still loves her. Or at least still really admires her."

"Did you find out why they split up?"

I shake my head no, and Boruto's hands lower to his lap before returning the photo strip to me. "We had an interesting talk actually. About my parents."

"Your parents?"

"'My parents'," I repeat with finger quotations. "I finally told him how I live with a single mom. How I never knew my dad."

"Did he find out about who you are?"

I shake no. "No. But, he looked pretty pissed when he learned my dad left. He seemed angry, _for_ me."

"Sasuke?" Boruto imagines. "That's a little weird."

"Boruto I don't think he knows my mom had a kid," I confirm. Boruto stays silent as I come to the realization. "He didn't know she was pregnant," I nod slowly. "Otherwise I don't think he would've left."

"What makes you say that?" he asks slowly.

I shrug, blinking behind my frames. "It's a lot to assume but it's what my gut's telling me."

Boruto looks down at the candle, still unlit. We're bot sitting silently, taking in what I just said. "Well... if you want to be sure, you should go with my plan and figure out where Sasuke and your mom were nine months before you were born. Why they met up, where Sasuke went after."

"Yeah," I nod. I close my eyes, shaking my head quickly. "I'm sorry. You brought all this up and I ruined the moment."

"It's cool."

"Besides whatever information I managed to get out of him, Sasuke and I had a lot of fun today actually," I say, trying to change the mood. "It's the birthday I've always dreamed about actually - a father-daughter day out. Ice cream, pictures, park walk. It was amazing." I hold the photo strip in my hands, going over it with my thumb. "I'll never forget today."

"Hey today's not over yet," Boruto reminds, finally getting the light to ignite. He sets one of the candles in the middle of the cake, and lights it. With my dim room lighting, the candle is bright and its light reflects on our faces, on my glasses. Boruto sets the lighter down and we admire the beauty of the cute little birthday cake together. Before I can blow out the candle, Boruto stops me. "Wait wait, don't you need the birthday song or whatever first?"

"Do you know it?" I ask skeptically.

"Yeah," Boruto scoffs, racking his brain for the words I used at his birthday. "Um-"

" _Oh happy~birthday on your special day_ ~" I start slowly, trying to remind him.

" _That you are very precious, is, what we want to say_ ~" he sings along, him trying to follow along with me until he gets it by himself. " _And congradulations sent your way~..._ "

I sit back, trying to remember my wish.

" _So haaapy~birthday~today~.._." Boruto finishes singing as I blow out the candle. The flame disappears, and despite the lack of clapping or cheering, Boruto and I smile by ourselves together before the cake. And right now, in the light, Boruto can actually see how pretty the girl before him is. Like he'd never seen it before. "I-I better go," Boruto says suddenly, sitting up off the bed. "You had a long day and I just wanted to drop the tray off."

"That was really sweet of you to sing my birthday song for me," I make sure to say. "Thank you."

Boruto keeps his back to me to hide his blush. "D-Don't mention it. Happy birthday, Sarada."

"Good night," I wave as Boruto leaves my room.

The blonde shuts the door and leans against it outside, panting and patting his chest where his heart is. Just seconds ago it was beating so fast, and his face feels way too warm for his comfort. His palms are sweaty, and his breath is unsteady. "What the hell is wrong with me?" Boruto mutters nervously. He slaps the sides of his head, trying to shake out his friends' thoughts, but he looks up and can over hear me getting ready for bed just on the other side of the door. "Shit."

I like Sarada.

* * *

 **SASUKE CARES!**

 **AND BORUTO HAS A CRUSH!  
**  
 **AHHH!**

 **Haha, sorry for not updating in a while! But writing and fixing this one up was very fun, especially the relationship-talk between Sasuke and Sarada. They'll be doing some snooping soon to dig into some more info on Sarada's parents. And Himawari will be appearing in the next few chapters!**

 **Thank you again for reading and for all your lovely reviews everybody!**

 _ **PREV IEW:**_

 ** _"So your sister's actually coming to visit?"_**

 ** _"Yeah," Boruto grins, seeming rather peace-of-mind like. "Her school's really strict about their summer breaks. Every student gets a maximum one week break at appointed parts of the summer."_**

 ** _"Just one week?"_**

 ** _"They're intense," Boruto frowns_**

 ** _x-x-x-x-x-x_**

 ** _"So what's the deal with Boruto's sister anyway? How come Naruto doesn't want her to be here for so long?"_**

 ** _"This is Naruto's thing. You and I have no place for meddling."_**

 ** _"It'd still help knowing," I frown. "Come on you know something."_**

 ** _"I swear I don't," Sasuke almost laughs. "If you wanna snoop go ask Boruto."_**

 ** _x-x-x-x-x-x_**

 ** _"Just think, in a few hours you'll be able to see your little sister again. Things are never as bad as you think they'll be."_**

 ** _He looks at me a moment. "Was meeting Sasuke as bad as you thought it would be?"_**

 ** _"Don't try to change the subject."_**

 _ **"I'm not," he defends, hands up. "I'm sincerely asking you what it was like to see a family member you haven't seen in a while - or, never, really," he rewords apologetically. "Like... weren't you nervous? Wondering if he'd hate you or want nothing to do with you?"**_

 ** _I couldn't deny any of what he was saying. Boruto was undeniably right. "I was terrified," I say first, looking down admittingly._**


	13. Family Pick Ups Pt1

**Chapter 13: Family Pick Ups Pt.1**

 _ **Boruto's little kid sister is finally coming home after years of boarding school. And against Naruto's wishes, Sasuke allows Himawari not only to stay for a day but for a week while the Uzumaki parents are away. Reasonably Boruto is nervous, so Sarada takes it upon herself to keep this household together in anticipation of her visit. Meanwhile, Sarada also does some snooping into her parents' history, in hopes of figuring out why they separated in the first place.**_

* * *

"And make sure he eats his vitamins every morning," Hinata tells Sasuke as Naruto comes back in through the front door to carry out yet another luggage. "And don't let them eat any sweets past seven. And please make sure Boruto's not up at three in the morning playing video games because I swear-"

"Hinata relax. They're gonna be fine," Sasuke has to assure. "It's not like this is your first business trip away."

"Yeah, but this is the first time both Naruto and I have both been away for over a week together," Hinata points out.

"Are you saying you don't trust me with the kids?" Sasuke humors.

"I'm saying they're a handful," Hinata clarifies, "as somebody who's had to watch Boruto when you and Naruto would leave for week-long business trips. Now there's two of them. Not to mention Himawari when she arrives."

"Hinata they'll be fine," Naruto reassures, coming back in for the last heavy luggage. "He won't be totally alone. The kids are capable of handling themselves too."

Boruto and I meanwhile sit at the top banister, overlooking the ballroom and Hinata's little scene. I'd just woken up and was on my way down to the kitchen for breakfast, but instead saw Boruto here and the adults all downstairs. Turns out Naruto and Hinata are leaving for Korea for some business trip for about a week and a half. "So your sister's actually coming to visit?"

"Yeah," Boruto grins, seeming rather peace-of-mind like. "Her school's really strict about their summer breaks. Every student gets a maximum one week break at appointed parts of the summer."

"Just one week?"

"They're intense," Boruto frowns. "It's no wonder they got away with holding her for five years."

Down below us, Hinata begins shaking Sasuke's shoulders, and the poor guy has no idea how to react to the normally sweet woman. Sasuke's never been much of an aggressor. A jerk maybe, but never to Hinata. And now here's the woman at her scariest, and I don't think Sasuke has the heart to argue with her. Just constantly reassure her he's got it all under control.

"I've never seen your mom so paranoid before," I whisper to Boruto, a little amused.

"She doesn't like leaving me alone often," Boruto mentions as we watch from above. "Much less her _and_ my dad leaving me alone. She's just being a mom."

"Don't you want to go say goodbye?"

"She's been telling me goodbye for the past two hours. If I go down there now she'll never leave," he laughs. "Sasuke told me to go upstairs and hide until they're gone."

"Hinata we gotta go," Naruto urges, holding the last duffel with difficulty.

"Call us if anything. And tell Himawari we love her so much," Hinata bids to Sasuke one more time, who can only help but smile and nod sympathetically as the woman exits the mansion.

Sasuke then looks to Naruto, legs shaking as he holds the last bag. "Need help there?"

"Not from you," Naruto denies, totally willing to carry it all by himself. "Oh, but wait." Naruto drops the bag temporarily and rubs his back. He looks out the door to make sure the coast is clear. "I need to talk to you about something before I head out."

"Sure. What is it."

I arch my eyebrow watching them. Naruto suddenly looks really serious, and both Boruto and I try to listen in. "I got a call from my daughter's school. Their summer break will be starting soon and they're asking permission to send Himawari home for the week."

"Right right, I remember," Sasuke nods.

"They'll be calling our office again later today to confirm before they send her off to the airport," Naruto says. "Not sure when."

"What do you want me to say?"

"Don't let her stay for more than a day," Naruto says. "One night. That's it." Did, Naruto really just say that?

"What...!" I can hear Boruto mutter. His anger is easy to feel beside him.

"You... sure?" Sasuke arches his brow, finding it rather odd an answer.

"Her education is very important to me," Naruto says, eyes glancing down. Sasuke doesn't pester for another answer. "I'll be leaving now. Take care of them for us."

"Have a safe flight," Sasuke bids as Naruto picks the heavy bag back up.

Once Sasuke shuts the front double doors and Naruto is gone, Boruto and I run down the stairs. I'm panting behind Boruto, who is obviously more fired up by the look on his face.

"No fucking way," Boruto starts in disbelief, taking out the anger first and foremost on Sasuke. "That asshole seriously thinks he'll only let Himawari stay one single say at home? Are you kidding me? When he's not even here?!"

"Those were your fathers orders."

"Well this is your damn house! Sasuke please I never get to see my sister!" Boruto begs, coming up to the man and grasping his arm sleeves. "That's so unfair!"

 _This morning got tense_ , I think in my head. I'm still in my pj's for heaven's sake. Sasuke looks past Boruto to me. I keep my distance physically, sticking beside the bottom of the staircase. This doesn't look like my place to pick sides, but I can definitely sympathize with Boruto.

Before Sasuke can give a response, a maid appears from around the side of the room. "Sir, your office phone is ringing. Gakure-Prepatory is on the line," the maid announces. That must be Himawari's school.

Boruto's eyes widen. Are they really watering? "Sasuke please!" he begs.

Wordlessly, Sasuke gets away from Boruto and walks over to the maid, and they both disappear towards his office. Did this really happen? Naruto left two minutes ago, and within that time span I've watched Boruto fall completely into the verge of breaking down. Boruto's just standing there as I look and see Sasuke disappear around the staircase. I snap out of it and run over to Boruto and take a firm hold of his arm, trying my best to remain the stern and strong one. I pull him along and run to Sasuke's office.

We enter through the open doors with me dragging Boruto by the arm. Sasuke's at his desk, holding the phone. I can faintly hear the line on the other end.

" _Hello Mr. Uchiha, sorry to bother you. We're just calling you to confirm Himawari Uzumaki's stay over in Japan since it'll be in your household_ ," a man says over the phone. " _Her father Naruto Uzumaki requested it's one overnight, is that correct_?"

Sasuke sees Boruto and I at his door. Boruto still looks like a mess, but I keep my stern face. I'm hoping that Sasuke can tell this is wrong. Just because Naruto said it, doesn't mean it's right. 'Please,' I mouth to Sasuke.

Sasuke's not a bad guy. I can tell in his eyes he's a little conflicted about it too. I know his style is to not interfere with Uzumaki family affairs, and that's the only reason he's willing to follow Naruto's request.

" _Sir? Are you still there_?" the man over the phone asks.

Sasuke pauses before bringing the chord phone back to his ear. And for a moment I really don't know what he'll say. "Yes. Sorry, you heard wrong. Himawari Uzumaki's stay with me will be for seven days, not for one." Our heads perk up. Whoa.

" _Alright then, I'll correct the information on her vacation forms. She'll arrive at Leafville Airport tomorrow morning at 4am_."

"Thank you very much. Have a good day," Sasuke bids, closing the phone. I can not believe it. The phone clicks and he looks at us, with the most Sasuke face. "I hope you guys are happy."

"Thank you thank you thank you thank you!" Boruto yells, running over to the man and practically jumping on him in the chair. I almost laugh at the scene, with Sasuke obviously hating the physical contact. "Thank you thank you so much Sasuke! I owe you!"

"Hell you do," Sasuke glares in a panic, shoving the boy off him He straightens his shirt and tries not to look that pissed. "Not a word of this to your dad."

"Promise," Boruto grins, rubbing his eyes with his arm. He bows once more deep down. "Thank you so much!"

"Nice," I compliment, walking up to Sasuke's desk, almost proud.

"We'll be picking her up at the airport at 4am," Sasuke tells us. "You guys better wake up on time." Playing the nice guy must not be his style. "I'll get one of the maids to prep something for breakfast in a bit. Go get a room ready for your sister."

"Will do!" Boruto says excitedly, and part of me can't help but feel happy for him. He dashes out of the office and I'm left with Sasuke, who looks completely baffled, stressed, and relieved all at the same time.

"I know things with Boruto and his family aren't the best," I speak up, bringing Sasuke's head up. "So what's the deal with Boruto's sister anyway? How come Naruto doesn't want her to be here for so long?"

"This is Naruto's thing. You and I have no place for meddling."

"It'd still help knowing," I frown. "Come on you _know_ something."

"I swear I don't," Sasuke almost laughs. "If you wanna snoop go ask Boruto." The man sighs, sitting back in his leather chair. He waves his hand in a shoo-ing manner. "Go, help him set up. I have work to do before she arrives. I want to get as much as I can out of the way - knowing you three you'll be a handful for me this week."

I let the conversation die after that and politely exit the room with a smug little smile. Sasuke runs his hands through his hair, wondering if he's done the right thing. The little succulent plant I gave him sits right on his desk, perfectly healthy and watered once a week as instructed. _This girl is going to be the death of me_.

I head upstairs, catching Boruto on his phone on the way. "Yo," I call up to him.

He turns around from the top of the staircase. That smile is still plastered over his face. "There you are. I was wondering what took you so long."

"Just wanted to talk to Sasuke a little longer," I say casually. Such a mood-swingy boy Boruto is. From happy to angry to happy again, but I can tell he must love his sister very much. I remember a bit from what he told me about her on his own birthday when I first arrived in Japan.

 _"What happened to her?" I ask in the two of us sit across from one another._

 _"It was when we were younger. Years ago," Boruto shakes his head, as if it's hard to say. Part of me feels bad for making him talk now. "My dad's old boarding school I guess reached out to him, offered him a full scholarship to one of his kids to attend half way across the country."_

 _"But... there's no way Naruto would've-"_

 _"My dad thought it would've been bad press if he denied it, so it was between me or my sister to go away to that boarding school."_

I still can't believe Naruto can be as cruel to keep his daughter away from home like this. Not without a reason - but I can't think of one right now. "Guess your old man's not as heartless after all. I can't believe I'll get to see my sister after all these years," Boruto says. "Would you help me set up a place for her to stay?"

"Sure," I nod a few steps down from him.

"Good. Because your room actually? - it used to be my sister's," Boruto tells me, and I'm a little taken back by that info. "We converted it into another guest room years ago, but I think she'll like staying with somebody that's a girl. Would it be cool with you if she roomed with you for a week?"

"Of course," I say with a head shake. "Anything."

"She's not an annoying kid, believe me. She's great."

"I guess she doesn't take after you then," I tease, sparking Boruto's usual face to return.

"Ha-ha," he fakes sarcastically. "But seriously, you're gonna love her."

"You haven't seen her in how long?" I begin as we walk towards my room together. "What makes you think she hasn't changed?"

"I know my sister," Boruto says seriously, like I'd just said something really wrong. "She's a good kid."

We enter my bedroom and unsure where to start, I just start cleaning stuff up - like my stationary and clothes. Over the past few weeks of me being here, Hinata's helped me expand my wardrobe. As a result I've become rather homey with leaving clothes everywhere sometimes. Not exactly a great thing. "I think there's a sleeping bag in the closet. Himawari can take the bed while I sleep on the floor or something."

"Thanks," Boruto says gratefully as he kinda just sits at my desk, not sure what to touch in the room. He watches me clean and sort of just sits there for a moment. "Hey," he speaks up. "... Do you wanna know the real deal? What happened before my sister left?"

Well, that was unexpected. I'm mid way folding a shirt by the bed. "Only if you're comfortable telling me," I reply honestly.

"So you know my dad's old school offered him a full scholarship to one of his kids," Boruto reminds. "He thought it would've been bad press if he turned them down. So between Himawari and I, Himawari volunteered to go."

"She volunteered?" I ask. I didn't know that.

"She and I talked about it the night before my dad made his decision. We were here actually in her room," Boruto reminisces, his head looking all around. "I was fully intent on going so she wouldn't have to leave home. But... she insisted," he sighs, shaking his head. "She was so confident about the decision to go. She looked so happy and excited. I should've known she was only pretending, for my sake." He looks rather regretful, telling me all this. He slumps over a little over the back of the chair that he's leaning on. "The second the driver shut the door, I could see how sad her face looked. She didn't want to leave. Not one bit." Boruto looks at me, and I'm standing respectfully still. "In case you were wondering, this is why my dad and I don't exactly get along."

"And I don't blame you."

"Can I tell you a secret?" Boruto adds. "I'm really not sure how she'll react to seeing me again... Maybe she hates me? For letting her go like that? It's not like we were allowed to send letters or have phone calls, or even emails. I, feel like a bad big brother for not being able to keep in contact and letting her leave.."

"Hey," I interrupt, walking up to him with that folded shirt still in my arms. "Don't think like that. Himawari put herself out there because she wanted to. And... if she's as great as you make her out to be, I highly doubt she hates you for any of that." Boruto gives me this trying smile, and I give him a squeeze of the shoulder before returning to cleaning. "Well don't just sit there. Are you gonna help me clean up or what?"

His face brightens a smidgen and I call him over to instruct him where to put things.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

And so, the rest of this regular day went along with Boruto and I cleaning up my room and getting it all ready for Himawari. And that included making some space in my dresser and my closet for her belongings. The maids, who were rather excited themselves, helped us pick out new sheets for the mattress and the pillows, and a new clean comforter. Despite Boruto's initial excitement that she'd be staying a week instead of a day, I can tell he must be nervous to see her, as much as he denies it now. The cleaning takes up about half the day, but seeing how restless Boruto was, I took it upon myself to keep him occupied at least until night.

With Hinata not here and not as many maids here either, Sasuke and us will be doing most of the cooking this week- which I think could be fun. For an hour or two I had Boruto help me come up with recipes that Himawari would like for breakfast, lunch, and dinner during her stay.

For another hour, we made a list of places we could take her to during her stay in Japan as well. The shopping district, the mall, etcetera. Boruto even listed a few places he used to take them when they were little.

And what with Naruto and Hinata being away for so long, Sasuke had arranged for all the help in the house to have the week off paid-vacation, since it'd just be Sasuke and us kids. I thought that was nice. And it sounded like fun taking care of ourselves in this big mansion.

Before we knew it, it was already 8:00. Not that it was that late, but we were both in the kitchen just, sitting. Waiting. Killing time. Boruto was just laying his head on the table, kind of staring off into space. I meanwhile was writing another postcard for Karin. Between us was a bowl of chips half finished.

Sasuke makes his way into the kitchen and spots us from the door frame. He leans against it with crossed arms. "Is this your guys' dinner?"

"For now yeah," I shrug, eating one more. "We wanted to cook but didn't realize how late it was already."

Sasuke chuckles, coming over. "I guess it's my bad too. Don't worry, we'll grab something on the way to the airport in the morning," he assures. "I know it's pretty early for you guys but you should get some sleep. You especially," he says, shoving Boruto a bit. It stirs him awake, but just barely. It's kind of funny. "You. Look alive."

"Mmnhmggnn," Boruto mumbles, all groggy. Is that drool?

I giggle a little as Sasuke scruffs him up a bit to try and wake him up. "I'll get him upstairs," I offer, hiding my postcard in my sweater and coming around the table.

"Thanks," Sasuke appreciates, as I hang Boruto's arm around my shoulders. God he's heavy. "Don't forget to set your alarms."

"Alright," I bid. "Goodnight Sasuke."

"Good night," he says, taking the chip bowl to clean it out.

With careful steps I help lead Boruto up and about the steps to his room. If this guy drools on me I'm dropping him I swear. Luckily we make it upstairs to his door, which I open with my foot. "Boruto come on you're not unconscious. You can walk you know."

"But this aggravates you so much more," he says sleepily. What an asshole. When we get to his bed, I stop all courtesy and kind of just throw him against it. He yelps as his head hits his bedpost, and I cross my arms with a smug smile. "Ow?"

"You deserve that," I admit. "Now get some sleep. We've gotta wake up early and you do not wanna be the last one asleep with me and Sasuke to wake you up."

"I should be the one saying that," Boruto laughs, sitting up. "And hey we're kids - we've managed with fewer hours of sleep." He smiles. "Let's stay up a little longer."

My conscience says not to but I end up sighing and pulling up a chair beside his bed. He sits against his headboard.

"Thanks for keeping me busy today," Boruto admits. "I know you were trying."

I shrug, not sure how to respond to that. "I was just trying to be a good friend." By the look on his face, he must still be nervous. "Just think, in a few hours you'll be able to see your little sister again. Things are never as bad as you think they'll be."

He looks at me a moment. "Was meeting Sasuke as bad as you thought it would be?"

"Don't try to change the subject."

"I'm not," he defends, hands up. "I'm sincerely asking you what it was like to see a family member you haven't seen in a while - or, never, really," he rewords apologetically. "Like... weren't you nervous? Wondering if he'd hate you or want nothing to do with you?"

I couldn't deny any of what he was saying. Boruto was undeniably right. "I was terrified," I say first, looking down admittingly. "... I probably asked every single question to myself that you were right now. ..I knew enough not to assume it'd be a perfect happy family reunion, but I never thought he wouldn't even recognize me."

"So," he frowns, "it was much more worse than you thought."

"Well, at first," I try to say. "And then, it kind of got even worse and worse actually."

"Sorry," he apologizes, remembering how we used to be.

"Nah, it wasn't just you. It was Sasuke, too," I sigh, remembering the unhappy memories. "But," I say ultimately, having had a point, "things did get a lot better. And now here I am in a happy middle-ground." I smile. "It won't be as bad as you think it'll be. Might even be really nice. Really, really nice."

"You sure know how to cheer a guy up."

"My mom gave the best pep talks," I say proudly. We laugh together a bit.

Sasuke meanwhile later that night is coming upstairs after a few extra hours of going over paperwork. He wasn't going to take Hinata's warning for granted in terms of watching kids. It could definitely be a handful on top of Sasuke's normal daily workload. So he'd wanted to get as much out of the way in case he needed to dedicate time to the kids.

"What is wrong with me," Sasuke mutters to himself, completely exhausted. "And I have to get up early to drive to the airport." The Uchiha admits he's gone soft. Ultra soft. He's never been the kind of man to put kids before work. Even at his own convenience. On his way to his room, he could see Boruto's bedroom lights still on. "This kid."

Sasuke walks to the door way and peers in, and much to his surprise he could see Boruto sitting up in his bed, already nodded off. And at the bedside all balled up in his gaming chair was me, fast asleep as well. Sasuke will admit, it's definitely a soothing sight.

He walks in quietly and pulls Boruto's comforter over him, and then a spare blanket over myself in the chair, but not before gently pulling off my glasses and setting them to the side. _Definitely going soft_. Sasuke notices my face, bare of my frames. It's not like he hasn't seen it before. But my sleeping expression - to him, looked vaguely familiar. After giving it a moment Sasuke leaves it be, closing the lights and leaving us to our slumber.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

The next early morning, Sasuke had come up to Boruto's room and woken us up - quite roughly might I add. Boruto's woken me up most mornings in rather crude ways. I didn't think Sasuke could beat that.

I was soundly asleep in Boruto's gaming chair when I felt a hard poke/shove on the side of my head. It hits the arm of the chair in a painful thump, and I see a blurry Sasuke trying to wake Boruto up. My vision's a little bury, but while I'm putting on my glasses I eventually hear and see Sasuke tug fast on Boruto's blanket and he tumbles to the ground before my chair.

"ACK!" Boruto yelps.

"Get ready. Or I'm leaving without you," Sasuke says plainly. The sun isn't even out yet.

The guy casually leaves the bedroom, and I watch him from around the chair, as Boruto sits up and rubs his head. Just like that he's gone. "That was terrible," Boruto frowns, all groggy.

Nonetheless we waste no time getting ready. I rush back to my room and put on my most comfortable and warm sweats. It's 3:30AM, and I know how cold it can get this early. I know Boruto's getting ready quickly too. This feels excited, the three of us going out late at night. Yeah it's to an airport, but it's pretty energizing despite the early wake up call.

I have a comfortable hoodie and some sneakers on, and my phone packed away in my pocket. When I leave my room and shut my door, I see Boruto doing the same all the way down the hall. He's dressed just as warmly and is still pretty groggy, but he's just standing there, looking at the door he just close.

"He must be nervous," I whisper sympathetically. I hurry down the hall to Boruto and grab his hand, snapping him out of whatever thoughts must be running through his head. "It'll be alright," I assure softly. My mother used to say the same thing to me in my times of worry.

"I'm heading out with or without you!" Sasuke's warning voice echoes from downstairs. We take that as our cue and rush down the hall and down the stairs. Sasuke's waiting at the front door with his own jacket, ready to lock the door behind once we leave.

Once we're out, it's dead quiet outside in this night. The car is ready and on, and we rush in.

"Sasuke's driving?" Boruto whispers to me as he enters the front seat. I shrug, just as surprised. I've never seen Sasuke drive on his own ever.

"Buckle up," Sasuke orders, adjusting his mirrors. "We're about to be late because of you runts."

"Hey wait a second- AHHH!" The car screeches, driving down the mansion road way. Luckily I'm already buckled in but Boruto was in the process. He and I both struggle to get him strapped in as Sasuke makes at least three sharp turns getting us out of the rich residential area. My hands reach to hold onto something solid to help with keeping me in place. Boruto's doing the same.

Oh my god Sasuke's a speed demon. Somehow I think back to my mother, who's a total stickler for speeding. She gets terrified driving with anybody going two miles above the speed limit.

Now I think I know why.

Sasuke swerves between lanes down a highway on our way to the airport. "S-Sasuke slow down! We're not that late!"

Sasuke ignores Boruto and pushes his car into the next gear. I brace myself as Sasuke finds a lane clear of cars, and we zoom all the way down. Boruto and I are to hell with formalities and are just screaming and shrieking. It would be almost fun if not for me sincerely believing we're going to die by Sasuke's hand.

"We're picking up Himawari, we're going home, and I'm going to bed," Sasuke says. Okay. So he is cranky.

Finally our car slows down near the airport to an actual decent speed limit. We're in this little carousel of cars circling the airport roads picking people up. Sasuke completely ignores that and goes around this way to a parking lot. it's almost empty, and full of really nice cars. I assume it's for special people like Sasuke Uchiha.

Of course we're always in for surprises and Sasuke speeds down the parking lot and drifts straight into a parking spot, perfectly centered. The car stops to a tilt, and when it hits the ground unmoving, I can finally breathe. _Oh my god._

"We're here," Sasuke announces anticlimactically.

He looks back at Boruto and I, who are still clutching for our dear lives onto something and heavily breathing. My glasses are crooked, and Boruto's teeth are shut tight together.

But Sasuke's not having it. "Get out of the car."

Forcing ourselves to calm down after that death-ride of a drive, Boruto and I get out. My knees feel like jelly for all new reasons, but Sasuke's already on his way, so Boruto and I have to keep up and not look like we just rode the world's fasted roller coaster. "Isn't this the same place you guys first picked me up?" I whisper to Boruto.

"Yeah actually it is," Boruto remembers, also trying to regain his balance.

We eventually ride an elevator up back into the main floors of the airport. Sasuke seems to know exactly where he's going, so we follow him the entirety of the way. Soon we reach a pick up area where tons of crowds of people are exiting with all different types of bags. Sasuke stands, unassumingly looking for or waiting for Himawari. Boruto stands on his tip toes as well, looking for the girl.

 _I sure wish I knew what she looked like_. Seeing an empty row of waiting-chairs, I stand up on one behind the guys and overlook everyone's heads. I squint my eyes and eventually catch a small little girl, walking out by herself with a small pink rolling bag. She has a pastel hoodie and is looking around, all awe-struck. "I think I see her!"

Immediately Boruto catches her too, and getting down from the chair he's kind of just standing there, staring. "H-Himawari."

"Well don't just stand here go!" I urge, pushing him.

The little girl sees us as the crowd disperses, and her once lost innocent look brightens into the widest grin that can only remind me of Naruto's. "Hi!" She runs to us as we all walk as a group in her direction. Boruto's still in shocker mode, so Sasuke begins first, "Hi Himawari," Sasuke smiles.

"Sasuke!" the short girl grins. "And big brother!" immediately she grabs Boruto in the cutest hug. Boruto's still frozen like a loser, so behind Himawari I make a notion to return the embrace, mouthing ' _HUG HER, LOSER_ '. Boruto eventually gives into his smiles and hugs her back, the both of them swinging back and forth a little. "I missed you so much, big bro!"

"I-I missed you too Himawari," Boruto chokes up. By the way he looks he's still as nervous as ever, but it is very heart-warming to see them reunited like this.

Sasuke takes Himawari's rolling luggage and lowers the stand, lifting it up over his shoulder. "Let's get out of here. We have a long drive home." Part of me remembers the drive being about fifteen minutes long - speeding of course. I'm assuming with Himawari here he'll hopefully drive a decent slower speed, though it may take longer like he said. I don't mind that at all.

The Uzumaki siblings finally let go so we can start following Sasuke. "And this is Sarada," Boruto introduces during our walk.

"It's so nice to finally meet you," I smile at her.

"Oh my gosh! It's so nice to finally meet you!" the adorable girl gushes. "I've read all about you from the papers and the Internet! You're Sasuke's protegee aren't you!"

Protegee. "Well that sounds better than his charity-case," I smile cheesily.

* * *

 **PREVIEW:**

 _ **"Wow," she stares. "This used to be my bedroom too when I was little."**_

 _ **"Yeah, your brother mentioned that yesterday. I hope you don't mind me using it during my stay here."**_

 _ **"Oh no, excuse me for staying here in your room," Himawari reverse apologizes. I think I just made that up that term. "This week I am your guest! So thank you for your hospitality!" she bows.**_

 _ **"N-No! This is still your family's house! I'm the one who's a guest so thank you!" I bow in return. There's this almost back and forth 'sorry' fest until we both look up after repetitive bowing, and we just start laughing. So. Hard. It definitely feels weird welcoming her back to her own home as a visitor, but this is nice.**_

 _ **x-x-x-x-x-x**_

 ** _"The two of them are too nervous to be alone together," I sigh, fixing my glasses. "They're using me as a buffer but they just need to get used to one another again. That's all."_**

 ** _"Hn," Sasuke figures. "Well you got this then."_**

 ** _"What? You're not going to help out?"_**

 ** _"I have actual work to do. This is your problem. I did enough intervening for the day going behind Naruto's back, plus taking Boruto shopping - which for the record, I'm never doing again." Sasuke sounds totally serious, and totally irritated. What the hell could Boruto have possibly done on a grocery run? "If you need something to do just do chores around the mansion or something."_**

 _ **x-x-x-x-x-x**_

 ** _"What is this?" Boruto asks me._**

 _ **"It fell from Sasuke's high school senior year book," I report as he careful unfolds it. It's a lengthy letter, written in script, but unreadable to me. "French. But, it's my mom's handwriting. It's a letter, to Sasuke."**_

 ** _Boruto's head picks up. Can he see the desperateness in my eyes. How much I need to read this._**

 ** _"I was conceived October 2005. My parents graduated college the summer right before, and they were in two completely different countries," I say slowly. "... I need to know what they were doing beforehand... What they were during college. Maybe this letter," my lips are dry, "Maybe if Sasuke kept it all this time maybe it means something. Maybe it'll tell us something."_**

 ** _Boruto nods and nervously looks back down to the letter._**


	14. Family Pick Ups Pt2

**Chapter 14: Family Pick Ups Pt.2**

 _ **Boruto's little kid sister is finally coming home after years of boarding school. And against Naruto's wishes, Sasuke allows Himawari not only to stay for a day but for a week while the Uzumaki parents are away. Reasonably Boruto is nervous, so Sarada takes it upon herself to keep this household together in anticipation of her visit. Meanwhile, Sarada also does some snooping into her parents' history, in hopes of figuring out why they separated in the first place.**_

* * *

It's about 6 am when we get back to the mansion from the airport. The sun is just starting to rise outside, and there's this open errieness to the mansion when we walk back in. Knowing there's nobody else inside - no Naruto or Hinata, no maids.

Sasuke shuts the large corridor once we're all in. "Alright kiddies, I'm going to my office and I'm heading back out. You all stay put."

"What?" I turn around. "We just got here and you're working already? You don't want to catch up on sleep or something?"

By the look in his eyes it looks like he needs it. "I'm leaving to get groceries. It's almost morning and we have nothing cookable in the fridge."

"I-I better go with you Sasuke," Boruto self-volunteers, further perturbing me. He looks at me with this sheepish smile. "Sasuke's never gone grocery shopping by himself before. Wouldn't want him to forget anything."

 _You baby_. Boruto's too nervous to stay around Himawari by himself. Otherwise I probably would've gone with Sasuke. "Fine. You guys go and I'll help Himawari unpack. Don't forget some bread alright?"

"We'll be back in an hour," Sasuke yawns exhausted, leaving once again with Boruto right behind him. I mouth 'chicken' to the boy when he looks back at us. Himawari is too busy waving goodbye to notice.

But just like that it's just the two of us alone in the mansion.

Suddenly I feel potentially awkward. _Why the hell did Boruto have to leave_? "So uh," I begin. She's just a kid, nothing to lose face with Sarada. "Boruto said you and I will be sharing a room. I hope that's alright."

"Really?" her eyes sparkle. "I've always wanted a roommate. Even if this is only for a few days this sounds exciting." .her.

"Aw, you're so sweet," I smile, finding it really hard to be anything but comfortable around Himawari. Politely I take her heavier bag and we lug ourselves up the stairs. We pas through our door and when I turn on the lights, thankfully it's as clean as I left it yesterday. Waking up in Boruto's room this morning, I didn't have the chance to double check on in here. "And here's my room."

"Wow," she stares. "This used to be my bedroom too when I was little."

"Yeah, your brother mentioned that yesterday. I hope you don't mind me using it during my stay here."

"Oh no, excuse me for staying here in your room," Himawari reverse apologizes. I think I just made that up that term. "This week I am your guest! So thank you for your hospitality!" she bows.

"N-No! This is still your family's house! I'm the one who's a guest so thank you!" I bow in return. There's this almost back and forth 'sorry' fest until we both look up after repetitive bowing, and we just start laughing. So. Hard. It definitely feels weird welcoming her back to her own home as a visitor, but this is nice.

It's hard to hate such a girl. Boruto was right - Himawari is the sweetest.

Within a few minutes, I'm helping her unpack all her clothes, which were neatly folded compactly within her luggage. Her other bag is full of small travel items like bathroom things and cute sentiments.

As I unfold a small dress to hang on a hanger, I remember unpacking my bag and how not -folded any of my clothes were. _She's so prim and proper for a little kid_. This preparatory school must be something.

"Since Naruto and Hinata are out for the next week and a half, Sasuke gave all the maids paid vacation leave for a week since it'd just be us in the mansion, in case you're wondering why we're all alone here," I explain to her.

"How are my parents?" she asks curiously, and a little less peppy than when I first met her. "Are they doing well?"

How strange must it be, asking this stranger who's been living in your home how your own parents are doing. The fact I've seen Hinata and Naruto more this summer than this girl probably has in years is a little sad. "They're doing alright," I nod from across the bed. "They were really excited about you coming here. They're sad they won't be able to see you during your stay."

"Me too," she agrees, but not too mopey over the fact. "But they're doing important work, so I understand."

"How old are you, Himawari?"

"I'm ten years old."

Wow, that's just three years younger than Boruto and me. "You're really mature for a ten-year old," I say. "I wish the ten year olds in my school were more like you. They're so loud and bratty." Kind of like Boruto actually..

Himawari laughs at my grumpy comment. "It must be exciting for you getting to stay in a foreign country for your summer vacation. I hear in your schools you get a whole summer off."

I nod, happy to hear about her curiosity. "Yeah. From June to August I'm out of school. I hear for you guys you get one week off during the summer. That's brutal."

"It's not too bad. We get other days off during the year, but the summer's special since it's a cuople consecuive days, so you can fly home to visit family if you want." She's holding this small photo frame, and it's of her and her brother. "Does my brother treat your well? I imagine all the adults are constantly working so you guys must be in each other's company often."

"We are," I answer, hanging another shirt on a hanger. "He can be a handful sometimes. Actually, he's loud, brash. He's always bothering Sasuke and Naruto whenever he gets the chance. And he's always egging me on because it's fun for him." I stop and pause myself, almost forgetting who I'm talking to. "Oh sorry, I don't mean to speak badly of Boruto."

She giggles. "No it's alright. That actually sounds a lot like him." Himawari is in the process of unpacking her books, but slows down to a stop.

I tild my head over. "What is it?"

"Is Boruto mad at me?" Himawari asks, for the first time wearing a frown on her face. Her eyes are drooped over a little, thoughtfully. She's clutching a clean notebook in her hands, very still. "He avoids eye contact with me, and he gets nervous around me too."

She could read all that? "How could you know that?"

"At Gakure-Prepatory, they teach us how to read people. Body language and speech. It's supposed to give us an edge in upper class socializing when we're older," she explains to me. "Big Brother's never been so afraid of me before. Is he mad at me for not being able to contact him for so long?"

"Oh Himawari," I sigh out. I put whatever shirt I'm holding back down and come around the bed to her side to sit with her. I tilt her chin up and have her look straight up at me. "Boruto's one of the kindest kids I've ever met, and one of the most caring brothers I don't doubt. If he's acting weird around you it's just because he's nervous. Beyond nervous, actually." I take my hand out from under her chin once her eyes stop looking so sad. "Don't tell him I told you, but your brother's been a wreck since he heard you were coming. He was so nervous, trying to make sure everything for your stay would be perfect. I could barely get him to go to sleep yesterday on time."

"Was he really?"

I nod enthusiastically. "In fact, he was nervous you'd be upset with him for not being able to contact you either." I pat her shoulder. "Give him some time and he'll come around. You two just have to get comfortable around each other again, that's all." I grin for her. "Even siblings need a little re-syncing up after a couple years. Trust me, he's thrilled to be together with you again."

"Thank you, Sarada," Himawari smiles thankfully, giving me the warmest and cutest hug. I hug her back, feeling very big-sister like right now.

I'm stroking her hair as I rub her back. "Everything's gonna be just fine."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"We're home!" Sasuke's voice echoes throughout the mansion.

By now it's a little past sunrise, and when I look downstairs I see Sasuke and Boruto just starting to bring grocery bags in. There must be more in the car. "We'll help!" I announce as I lead Himawari down.

"There's only a few left in the car," Sasuke instructs, holding three bags himself.

"Alright," I nod. Of course I don't realize Himawari coming to follow right behind me. She almost scares me when I turn around once we're at the car. "Oh hey. I thought you were gonna go with Boruto."

"I'm too nervous, Sarada," she says with this face - a worrisome almost sad face Naruto makes at Sasuke often. Oh boy.

"I already told you, you don't have to be nervous. We're all unpacking groceries, use that as an ice breaker."

"Did you guys get the rest of the bags?" Boruto says, coming up behind us and startling us both.

"Oh yeah! We were about to!" Himawari grins.

By the way this looks, I'm starting to read how the Uzumaki siblings act when they're nervous. Boruto, he becomes calm. Too calm. He subdues his emotions as to not react sadly or offensively. Himawari on the other hand acts really happy and smiley, probably to hide how anxious she feels. Geez. Do I really have to fix this?

"Here, there's three bags left so we can each take one," I say, pulling them out of the back of the car. We each get one and as I shut the trunk of the really nice car, I overhear them talking together.

"Your's is heavier. Here, switch with me," Boruto offers to his sister.

"It's alright I can do it," Himawari assures, but Boruto already switches the bags between them. They say some more stuff, but I don't need to pay attention. They'll be fine if we just do some normal stuff together.

The three of us walk back in the mansion where Sasuke is waiting. Himawari and Boruto walk through first. "You guys head to the kitchen and start unpacking the bags. We'll be right there," I tell them.

"Alright," Himawari nods, walking ahead.

Boruto trails shortly behind and makes this... ugly face at me, notioning his head for me to quickly follow. I just ignore him until they disappear into the kitchen.

The clearly tired Sasuke saw it all. "What was that all about?"

"The two of them are too nervous to be alone together," I sigh, fixing my glasses. "They're using me as a buffer but they just need to get used to one another again. That's all."

"Hn," he figures. "Well you got this then."

"What? You're not going to help out?"

"I have actual work to do. This is your problem. I did enough intervening for the day going behind Naruto's back, plus taking Boruto shopping - which for the record, I'm never doing again." Sasuke sounds totally serious, and totally irritated. What the hell could Boruto have possibly done on a grocery run? "If you need something to do just do chores around the mansion or something."

I stand there as Sasuke walks away. I know he only said that to get out of this, but maybe chores will be good for us. It'll be something we can do together.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

After unpacking the groceries, of course Boruto asks me what I wanna do now. Of course Himawari won't know, so in a way it really was up to me to break the tension. Luckily my mind came prepared.

"Dusting?" Boruto complains. The three of us are in one of the sitting rooms, each with a small duster. Boruto's got the grand piano, I have the book shelves, and Himawari has the table. "This is what we're doing for fun?"

"All the maids are gone this week, and Sasuke isn't doing the cleaning. Why not?"

"That lazy bum, why _shouldn't_ he clean?" Boruto goes on. "I've never seen Sasuke pick up a broom in his life!"

"I see Sasuke hasn't changed then," Himawari speaks up.

"Sasuke hasn't changed AT ALL!" Boruto yells with his arms up, looking like he's about to lose it.

Himawari and I giggle, just watching him try not to knock over a vase out of anguish. I turn my head back forward to focus on dusting the shelves in front of me. Trying so hard not to turn my head as I listen in on Boruto telling hilarious horror stories of Naruto and Sasuke to Himawari. It's a start.

"Hm," I read, "Never noticed how many notebooks Sasuke kept." Most of Sasuke's personal notebooks were often kept in his office for easy access. I never bothered to look at other bookshelves around the mansion. I always figured they were just showy-books to display on shelves. Guess I was wrong.

"And then Dad crashed the car STRAIGHT through the kitchen!"

"No way...!"

"And Sasuke was just sitting at the counter looking so pissed, and just staring at Dad sitting in the driver's seat. I swear it was nothing for a second and then everything for a couple minutes."

"Haha, Sasuke and Dad have such a funny relationship."

"I'll say," I mutter under my breath, seeing a couple odd books. Yearbooks. My lips pucker and my dusting slows. Tilting my head to see the school, it says Evergrade University, from a couple years back. Looks like I hit Sasuke's personal shelf of books. Notes, yearbooks. "I wonder if Mom's is here..."

With a low key glance over my shoulder, and with Himawari distracted and Boruto still talking up a storm, I hold the duster under my arm and pull the book out. It's a hardcover yearbook and rather regal looking on the top. "Evergrade University..." Must be where Sasuke went to college. I look through for some affirmation and eventually find a picture with Sasuke and Naruto together. Sasuke has this edgy haircut and Naruto is holding a skateboard, looking exactly like their personalities today. "So they met in college."

I discretely flip through but don't find any evidence of my mom in here. At the back cover there are no signatures. "Geez Sasuke, lame much?"

If this is Sasuke's college yearbook, are his high school yearbooks also on this shelf? I shut this one and slide it back in it's original place, following my hand until it leads to a few same sized yearbooks. "Leafville High." There's three here. One's missing. Junior year is missing. I take a chance and take out the latest of the three high school yearbooks - it would be Sauske's and Mom's senior year.

I want to take my time going through it. It's a lot more personal than a college yearbook. More candids. Graduation photos. Moments. Dances. But my brain pulls upfront and tries to filter those out - it tries to find any useful information on what could have happened to them after this. The only photo I see of them together is a basketball team photo. I only see it for half a second, but they looked so happy. Graduation photos are at the end, and show where each student would be going to college. Sasuke: Evergrade University, Japan. Sakura: School of Fashion, Italy.

 _So they split up to different colleges. But what happened_? In a matter of seconds I tune every sound out and focus my brain on date-math.

I was born 2006, July 8th.  
Conceived mid October of 2005.  
This yearbook states my parents graduated high school year of 2002.  
They started college 2002, both in four-year programs.  
Graduated Summer 2005...

Conceived 2005... October... 2005.

Right after graduating college in separate countries, they met up again somehow and... what. There's still too many holes, and I don't know in the end if I figured out anything useful.

However a note falls from one of the last pages. It's folded, and somewhat ages on some corners. Quickly I shut the book and slip it back in and bend down to scoop up the note, quickly look over it, and within a second stuff I stuff it in my pocket.

"Right Sarada?"

"Huh?" I turn quickly, duster back in my hand.

"Sasuke told my Mom that he could watch all of us by himself?" Boruto repeats.

"The old Sasuke I know would've made sure maids were around the house so he'd have more time for work," Himawari reminisces. "Sasuke's definitely gotten a lot nicer since I was here last."

"I'll bet," I grin nervously, putting my free hand into my hoodie pocket to make sure the note is still in there. I hold it tight in my hand and walk over to Boruto, pretending to dust something nearby. I hold the note and manage to secretly pass it it into Boruto's hand. " _You went to rich school - Ever take any language classes_?" I whisper calmly.

"Spanish, French, some Korean," Boruto answers with a smug smile.

"This note's in Italian," I whisper, keeping my eyes on Himawari who's busy trying to dust a high place. "Think you can translate?"

"I got a C+ in Italian but, yeah sure."

After that Boruto and I distance ourselves a bit as to not look so suspicious. Himawari climbs down a small step ladder and turns back to us finally. "I'm gonna go to the bathroom. I'll be right back."

"You remember where it is?" Boruto asks as his sister passes him her duster.

"Yup! Don't worry about me," Himawari smiles, walking briskly out and leaving us alone.

When we can't hear her footsteps anymore, I loosen up and face Boruto again. "We don't have a lot of time."

"What is this?" he asks me, pulling the note back out of his pocket.

"It fell from Sasuke's high school senior year book," I report as he careful unfolds it. It's a lengthy letter, written in script. But unreadable to me. "Italian. But, it's my mom's handwriting. It's a letter, to Sasuke."

Boruto's head picks up at that information. Can he see the desperateness in my eyes. How much I need to read this.

"I was conceived October 2005. My parents graduated college the summer right before, and they were in two completely different countries," I say slowly. "... I need to know what they were doing beforehand... What they were during college. Maybe this letter-," my lips are dry, "Maybe if Sasuke kept it all this time maybe it means something."

Boruto nods and nervously looks back down to the letter.

I look at it and his eyes as he scrolls left and right. His lack of expression makes me nervous. "Well?"

"My Italian's is a little rusty. I'll need some more time to translate this," Boruto tells me honestly. But with Himawari here, we won't be able to discuss anything Sasuke-related in person. We both know this. "I'll text you tonight when we're all in bed."

"Thanks."

Just in time, Himawari returns to the room happy and perky as ever. "Hi guys."

"Hey-Hi," we both greet back. Boruto's hidden the note back in his pocket.

Himawari holds her hands behind her and looks between us. "Did I miss something?" Um-

"Yeah I was just telling Sarada here to fix her posture," Boruto says, dusting my hoodie before I shove him away. God.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

The rest of the day consists of us cleaning the rest of the mansion for fun. I'm not entirely sure if we did a good job or not, but we ended up making ourselves dinner for the night. I took the reigns with an online recepie using whatever it was Boruto picked up on his grocery run with Sasuke. Cooking together was nice, and I think it's fine to say that Himawari and Boruto have finally gotten comfortable together.

I knew it only took a bit of time.

"And tada," Boruto grins, putting two more plates on the table. There's a total of three place mats on the kitchen table. "Hamburger Steak and my mansion-famous mashed potatoes."

"Must be because I made them," I comment, putting some empty glasses on the table. Boruto rolls his eyes and goes to fetch the iced tea in the fridge. "Sorry we're having dinner so close to midnight. I hope you like it Himawari. Thanks for helping make dinner."

"No this was fun! I've never cooked before with people. I wish I could do it more often."

"You can help with breakfast," Boruto grins, earning a happy smile from Himawari.

"Oh," I remember. "Let me take a plate to Sasuke's office. I have a feeling he'll be sitting out eating with us tonight."

"Alright then. We'll wait for you," Boruto offers. I come back to the counter where I set up a fourth plate and set it on a tray with a glass of water.

On the other side of the mansion, Sasuke's sitting in his office, gathering last minute papers and turning off his computer. With a heavy groan, he holds his face in his hands. Today's work was brutal for him. A quaint little knock comes from his door. "Go away."

I push the door open with my foot and peek in. "You still here?"

"I was just about to call it a night," Sasuke admits, rubbing his face and getting his jacket. Seeing the tray however his eyes open a little more.

"Thought you'd be hungry," I say with a flat smile. "If we didn't eat until now you definitely didn't. Here. We made hamburger steak and mashed potatoes."

"Thanks," Sasuke gives as I set the tray on his desk. "I'll eat it up in my room. I had a long day."

"Lot of work?"

"Yeah well, without Naruto there's a lot I have to cover here. Sorry I forgot to cook for you and the others again."

"No don't stress about it. If it's easier on you, the others and I can cook the meals while Naruto and Hinata are away. We like doing it."

"I'll probably take you up on that offer," Sasuke chuckles. "Did you guys get to have any fun at least? Today was a long day, and Himawari's gonna be here for a week."

"We had fun. We uh," I scratch my head, "we cleaned."

Sasuke's face looks almost disappointed. "... You cleaned?"

"What? You suggested it!" Sasuke's about to make a comeback but is clearly too tired to argue. "Besides, it worked. Himawari and Boruto are like two peas in a pod again. Everyone's happy."

"Good. Then I'm going to bed," he concludes, stepping up and taking the tray. I'm about to follow, but I look around his office shelves, wondering if maybe that missing yearbook is in here. "Sarada?" Sasuke calls, holding the door open for me.

"Coming!" I run back so Sasuke isn't holding the door for too long. He shuts the lights with his free hand and we leave together.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Agh! That was an amazing meal!" Himawari collapses into her sleeping bag on the floor. It's nearly one in the morning, and we're all tired. Note to self: start cooking dinner at seven, not ten. "Thank you Sarada."

"We'll make something better for breakfast." If we ever wake up. "Are you sure you want the sleeping bag, Himawari? You're more than welcome to take the bed. It was yours first," I laugh.

"That's okay. I never get to sleep in a sleeping bag. I think it'll be fun," she says, getting cozy. She is so cute.

"Alright then," I smile, getting under my covers. Her sleeping bag is situated right to the left of my bed. With a quick switch the lamp is off and it's entirely dark. We say goodnight, and I hide myself under my covers and turn my phone on to the lowest light setting. Boruto texted me about two minutes ago.

 **Boruto: You awake?**

I switch my phone to silent and start texting back.

 **Sarada: Yeah. Himawari and I just got into bed.  
** **Sarada: Did you translate the letter?  
** **Boruto: (...)**

I stare at the three animated dots. After a while I start to wonder how much he's typing. The anxiety of knowing what the letter says is killing me. And then, the dots disappear.

Come on, dude.

 **Sarada: Boruto?  
** **Boruto: I translated it  
** **Sarada: And? Type the translation here  
** **Boruto: I think you need hear it in person**

I want to bang my head into the back of my headboard, or muffle a scream into a pillow or something.

 **Sarada: Are you kidding me?**  
 **Boruto: Just sneak out and come to my room**  
 **Boruto: ASAP.**

I don't bother texting anything back, and I sigh, letting my arm collapse on my bed. I stare into the darkness that is my blanket covering my face, and try to breathe. Is this good? Bad? is it too long to type? I look at my phone one more time, rereading our conversation at least ten more times before making a decision.

 **Sarada: On my way**

I quietly and carefully lift the overs off my body, and look over at Himawari's sleeping bag. She's breathing steadily so hopefully she's already knocked out. She was pretty tired when we crashed. I hide my phone in my pocket and carefully make my way out of bed and around Himawari to the door. It takes me about a minute to open and close the door so it doesn't make a sound.

Meanwhile, Boruto's in his room, lights on and sitting in his gamer chair staring at the letter and his notebook with some translation notes.

I open the door quietly, squinting my eyes at the sudden brightness of his room. So much for secret subtlety. "Hey."

"Hey," Boruto greets quickly, spinning his chair a little.

I pull over a beanbag chair in front of his gamer seat and plop down into it, clearly too tired for this. "This better be good."

"What you wanted me to translate it for you right?"

"Yeah and you could've texted it to me instead of making me get back out of bed." Wait a minute... why does he look so... off? "Boruto what's wrong?"

"It's... Hm."

So serious. "Is... it the letter?" I ask nervously. "... Does it say something bad?"

"Not, bad," Boruto stammers. "Just, let me read it to you okay?"

Is that another way of saying 'brace yourself'? A warning? He holds the letter up a little against his notebook and I sit up a bit more in the beanbag chair, clasping my hands together over my lap. They're sweaty now.

" _June 1st, 2002_ ," Boruto reads first. " _Sasuke, if you're reading this now, then I'm already gone." It's... a goodbye letter from Mom. "Remember that early honors program I applied for? I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. I didn't know how to... While you're getting ready for prom, I'm already half way to Europe by now... I'm sorry. I know we never really finalized ever going to prom together but, for the record, I would have really wanted to go with you, whether you ended up giving in and asking me or not._

" _I'm so sorry Sasuke... But, I love you too much to keep up with our plans to stay together throughout college. I believed we could've made it too. If you were willing to wait for me, then I would have been willing to wait, too. I really... really wanted to. But, I know you, Sasuke Uchiha. I don't want to be the person holding you back from meeting people and taking opportunities that will advance your future. God knows you missed a lot of them during high school because of your feelings for me. And I don't take those moments for granted. They gave me a bit more time to be with you. To be myself. And I was so happy_."

Boruto pauses to look at me, and I'm still in the exact same position, exactly still. My tired eyes are unblinking, and moist, and in a way so is Boruto's. He continues.

" _I won't be returning any time soon, if at all. This wasn't an easy decision to make. Leaving early was the hardest choice, no, leaving you was the hardest choice, I've ever made in my life. But I know, if I stuck around for prom, and for graduation, I don't think I would've had the heart to... break up. This is a pretty shitty way to end things with somebody. I'm sorry for being such a coward. I hope one day, when it's right, we can meet again, so I can see how much of an asshole you grew out of becoming. Hate me, detest me, however you want to feel towards me it's totally okay. Just please... don't wait for me. You'll find somebody better than me, I know it. Despite your pompous attitude and your, stupid duck hair, you're... the best person I've ever met in my life... And I know you'll still be that man, even after I leave._

 _"Hey, maybe that promise we made junior year will come true, and we'll meet again. Who knows?_  
 _Maybe we'll become decent friends again._  
 _Maybe I'll make it up to you for ditching prom._  
 _I'm already missing you, so much._  
 _I'm sorry, for not saying goodbye._  
 _I'm sorry for loving you._

 _Sakura_."

Boruto sets the letter down gently on his lap, and like that we sit in silence, taking in everything that letter said. Boruto swallows and takes a deep breath. "You okay, Sarada?"

"Y-Yeah," I stutter out. I'm not crying or anything. But I feel goosebumps. I feel, sad. I wonder how Sasuke must've felt, reading this. "My mom broke up with Sasuke... He, wanted to stay with her." All all these years I thought maybe it was my father who left my mom alone to raise me.

Boruto looks at the letter again before offering it out to me. I stare at it for a minute before taking the delicate paper in my hands. "She ended up going to college in Italy. She must've left earlier before graduation and, broke things off with Sasuke," I summarize sadly.

"Does this tell you anything?" Boruto asks sensitively.

"Nothing much, except that apparently Sasuke has a heart if he kept this letter all this time," I sigh out. I hardly find him to be the sentimental type. Still, this must've stung, hard. God, Mom. "I wonder if they ever really got over each other."

"So, how did they meet up again?" Boruto asks me.

I remember the date-math I did in the sitting room earlier today. "They must have met up again at least by October 2005 in order to have me. That's the autumn right after they finished college. Wait - the letter said something about their junior year, right?"

"Well, yeah-"

"Their junior year book was missing from the shelf where I found the letter," I remember. "Maybe... Maybe there'd be something in there."

"Yearbook?" Boruto repeats. "Was it a green hardcover one?"

Huh? "Yeah."

"Sasuke has one like it in his office," Boruto reports. "I uh, used to snoop around his stuff as a kid when I got bored. I remember seeing a yearbook somewhere once."

"That's it," I say a little too loudly. "We gotta find it."

"... Nooooo. No way." I start nodding, while Boruto shakes his head otherwise. "Nuh-uh. Like you said it's late. I'm in _bed_. _You're_ in bed. Himawari's in bed. SASUKE's in bed-!"

"And if we're all asleep in bed, then there's no one who'll catch us if we snoop around now," I whisper low and close. My smile is suggestive and mischievous. "Sasuke's always in his office, and Himawari will be with us 24/7. But tonight? Right now? This is the only time you and I can do this, and I'm going down with or without you."

Boruto's unhappy and exhausted expression is his last resort in getting out of this, but now I'm too emotionally motivated. "Sarada we are not playing super spy right now."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

In the night of the mansion, one of the corridors of Sasuke's office peers open, and Boruto and I sneak our phone's flashlights in. "I hate you," Boruto whispers.

"Since when are you such a wuss?" I ask. "You've snuck in here a bunch before."

"Yeah when I was all alone in the mansion and Sasuke wasn't here to kick my ass."

Ignoring him, I walk in and have Boruto close the door quietly behind. We keep the main lights off and use our phones for light as we split up and start searching his shelves and cabinets for the missing yearbook. "Do you remember where it could be?"

"Not exactly," Boruto mutters across the room. "And even if I did he probably moved it in the past five years or something."

There's no consistency oddly enough in the way Sasuke organizes his books. Records and notebooks, mostly for business I imagine. Nothing really sentimental-looking on any of these shelves. It is an office. "If I were to keep sentimental items here where would I put it..." If I were Sasuke I'd put it somewhere out of plain sight.

At that I go behind his desk and sit in his chair, carefully looking over the top of it. I notice the plant I bought him and smile a little before going back to focus.

Meanwhile Boruto looks back at me with the most dastardly expression. "Sarada!" he yell/whispers in a high pitch.

"What?" I say, going through drawers.

"I've messed with stuff in this office before but his DESK?" Boruto lectures. "Sasuke knows if anyone's messed with his desk."

I know it's risky sifting through his precious desk, but I'm definitely right. His desk drawers hold some different stuff apart from his shelves. Of course small office supplies like paperclips and pens, but then there's some surprisingly sentimental memorabilia that I don't know the meaning off. Small photo frames, probably his parents. Sadly nothing of Mom. But under what looks like a box of pens and tape, there's a familiar green hardcover book. It's under everything else in it's drawer, the bottom corner drawer. Like it was hidden on purpose.

"What'd you find?" Boruto whispers, shining his phone light in. Definitely green.

"That's it," I whisper. Just before I can even touch it, we hear familiar footsteps I've come to recognize as Sasuke's. He's coming down the stairs. Oh my god here's going to his office.

"No no no," Boruto realizes, shutting off his phone light. "We gotta get out of here. No we have to hide."

"Gimmie a second." I carefully move the tiny boxes of office supplies so I can remove the book.

"Are you CRAZY?" Boruto hurries, trying to get me to go while I hurry. But the sound of the door handle causes us to stop moving. Stop breathing, even. We're both huddled and ducked behind his desk, and my hands are still inside the drawer. I'm afraid to remove them in fear of making any sounds, so I stay still just like that. Boruto as well.

The door creaks open, so I purse my lips closed and take a slow, deep breath. We, are so dead.

* * *

 **PREVIEW:**

 ** _"We're sorry for not telling you sooner," Boruto admits guiltily._**

 ** _"It's just very important that we keep it a secret," I add in, leaning forward in my chair. "None of the adults know."_**

 ** _"I promise," she says, raising her right hand. What a cute kid._**

 ** _x-x-x-x-x_**

 ** _"You look pretty stressed," I note as he sits across the counter from me. "You're normally not. Did you get enough sleep?"_**

 ** _"It's not the meeting, and the lack of sleep is fine," Sasuke tells me honestly. "It's Naruto."_**

 ** _"Naruto?" I frown. "Is this about Himawari?"_**

 _ **"He called last night asking how you guys were, and I gave a normal report. I didn't say** **anything** **about Himawari so she's safe, but he seemed** **usually** **serious, though."**_

 **x-x-x-x-x**

 **"Well why does it have to be so damn hard for the kid to see his sister? You've been so uptight about this for years and you know what? I've always laid off it! Do you even have any idea how all of this makes your kids feel?"**

 **"Don't lecture me about my kids!" Naruto argues, and by now they're both holding onto each other's shirt-collars, about to fight it out. Should I stop them? Would exposing ourselves be the wrong thing?**


	15. Family Pick Ups Pt3

**Chapter 14: Family Pick Ups Pt.3**

 _ **Boruto's little kid sister is finally coming home after years of boarding school. And against Naruto's wishes, Sasuke allows Himawari not only to stay for a day but for a week while the Uzumaki parents are away. Reasonably Boruto is nervous, so Sarada takes it upon herself to keep this household together in anticipation of her visit. Meanwhile, Sarada also does some snooping into her parents' history, in hopes of figuring out why they separated in the first place.**_

* * *

Sasuke appears to be just standing there at the open door to his office, looking in. My eyes squint shut at his first step in, but I hear another tiny pair of footsteps behind him. "Sasuke?" Himawari's voice echos in the darkness.

Sasuke turns around and sees the groggy little girl in the moonlight behind him. I can only see their feet from where Boruto and I are hiding under the desk.

"Himawari," Sasuke starts. "It's two in the morning. What are you doing up?"

"I'm not feeling so good," Himawari says, a little sick sounding. Sasuke walks closer to her and I think feels her forehead. "Do you have any medicine I can take to feel better?"

"Hn," Sasuke's voice goes. "We don't actually." He stands up a little straighter. "If you really need it I can drive down to the pharmacy and pick some up."

"I-Is it too much trouble?-"

"Don't worry about it," Sasuke interrupts, leaving the door way and walking out. His footsteps echo out after he grabs his keys on a hook by the door. Himawari's shadow stays and holds out into the office, and she stays there until I hear Sasuke go out the front door. He was exhausted last I saw him. Did he really just go out at 2am and leave to pick up medicine?

I hear Boruto stand up beside me, startling me. I wasn't sure if we were going to stay hidden or not, but I eventually stand up, too, holding the yearbook in my arm. Himawari is staring at us, unsurprised from the door.

"You covered for us," Boruto says.

"By lying to Sasuke," I add, coming all the way up. "I've gotta say, I didn't think you had it in you."

With a shy blush she laughs a little, not sick at all. Wow. "I feel bad for lying, but you guys looked like you needed it."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

We're all sitting up in my room now, with the lights on and the door locked. The yearbook we looked for sits on my desk, and Boruto and Himawari sit on my bed. I was sitting in my rolling chair in front of them, as Boruto and I broke down _everything_ to Himawai. And when I say everything, I mean the whole ordeal about me secretly being Sasuke's daughter, and my running away from home. I was hesitant at first about dragging her into the mess during her stay here, but at this point, it felt right to include her.

"And now, here we are," Boruto finishes, as cleanly as possible. I think we covered just about all of it.

"Wow...," Himawari goes, looking at me with the widest bluest eyes.

I nod, flat-lipped with a little shrug. "It's a lot I know. Kind of out-there, isn't it?"

"Yeah," she giggles.

"We're sorry for not telling you sooner," Boruto admits guiltily.

"It's okay. I understand," she says positively.

"It's just very important that we keep it a secret," I add in, leaning forward in my chair. "None of the adults know."

"I promise," she says, raising her right hand. What a cute kid. "So, did you get to find what you were looking for in Sasuke's office?"

We did actually. I look back at my desk, where the yearbook is sitting. In all the excitement of escaping Sasuke's office as quickly as possible, I didn't have a chance to open it yet. Actually, I think I'm stalling. After what I found in the last yearbooks, I'm a little nervous about opening this one.

Looking back forward I see Boruto staring at me, with this sympathetic look. I think he gets it. "Let's find out then," I reply to Himawari, standing up to retrieve the book. I take it back over to my bed and Himawari moves over so I can sit between her and her brother. I sit comfortably between them and kind of just stare at the cover first. Why am I so nervous?

"Sarada?" Boruto snaps me back out.

"Sorry, sorry. I'm ready," I tell myself more than him. Boruto and Himawari lean a little closer as I open to the first couple pages, and suddenly it's not as scary as I thought it'd be.

It's like a normal yearbook, a little less neat than the format of the senior one. A lot more candids. I see a couple photos of Ino and Mom together. Some of them during a homecoming dance, and then a couple of them on the same basketball team.

"Is that your mom, Sarada?" Himawari asks with that cute astonishing tone in her voice. "She looks so beautiful and strong."

"That's her," I smile, proud. Although I haven't seen much of Sasuke yet.

"Whoa look," Boruto gapes, seeing a couple photos of Sasuke and a bunch of girls. He didn't look particularly interested, and there's so many girls. Haha, guess he had his own fanclub following him back in the day. There's, a lot of photos like this in the book honestly. "Oh my gooood, Sasuke looks hilariously uncomfortable."

We all laugh as I turn some more pages. I have yet to see one of Sasuke and Mom together. However, there's one that lists credits of who was on the yearbook committee, and it says 'Ino Yamanaka' as one of the photographers. It shows a couple of her photos, and one of them shows a blushing Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha, sitting together on bleachers in their basketball uniforms. There's a caption under it, reading 'Basketball Lovebirds' after another infamous one-on-one rematch'.

"Ino told me that my parents played basketball together often when they were in high school," I smile, like I'm bragging about that memory.

On the next page, there's a selfie-photo of Ino, Mom, and Sasuke, but in the corner of the photo I can see Sasuke and my mom holding hands subtlety between themselves. Seeing that makes me smile - proof that they were most definitely together. I guess they were really low key about their relationship after all.

As we reach the end of their yearbook, the back is full of various marker colors and messages to... my mother...?

"What...?" I narrow my eyes. It seems to be clicking with Boruto too as he's squinting and leaning to read closer too. This isn't Sasuke's yearbook. "This is my Mom's yearbook."

I read some of the signings, all saying something short or sentimentally sweet to Sakura.

' _To the best player ever! Good luck as captain next year, Sakura! You've earned it_!' - Harumi  
' _You're one of my favorite upper class men! Good luck for your senior year_!' - Kuruma  
' _Gurrrrrlll I still can't believe you made our winning basket! Can't wait to play again next year!_ ' - Mina

Mom must have been well liked, because the last blank page and the back cover are full of messages like this in various marker and pen colors. I scroll through some of the denser messages looking for Ino's, and I see one small dense note with pretty script writing in purple ink.

' _SAKURAAA! AHHH! WE'RE SENIORS NOW! Haha, this year's gonna be pretty hard to beat though. It was so cool! And you changed so much! You cut your hair, finally joined the team and been promoted to captain, National Honor Society, and tons more - I'm so proud of you!_

 _P.S You and Sasuke are too cute. About time - Ino_ '

About time? I have to find Sasuke's signing, if he even left one. He doesn't seem like the type to sign yearbooks, does he. Agh where is it?

"My dad has to have written somewhere in her yearbook," I say, re-flipping through the yearbook desperately. I didn't see anything in the back from him out of all of those messages. Were they finally together? Did they start dating their junior year? Why does Sasuke even have my Mom's yearbook?

Eventually I find on the inside cover actually, a part I actually totally skipped, is a really really long hand written message in black gel pen. It's this neat and legible, yet guyish handwriting. And it's signed -' _the asshole'_. "No way," Boruto says for me, realizing what I found. "It's Sasuke's handwriting."

' _To Haruno,_  
 _Hey. It's not really my thing, writing to anybody. But Ino's distracting you so I don't know how long I have to write here. (And for the record, I totally kicked your ass our last match.)  
_ _Remember when we had our first one-on-one in the gym at the beginning of the year? And we spoke about all the hypothetical if we ever went out?'-_

-Oh my god this is so cute.

' _Like, you freaking out about meeting my parents. How overbearingly flaunting I'd be with my money if we went on dates. How, there'd finally be an excuse for you to wear a dress out somewhere? I swear to god, how the hell are you going to study fashion and never wear dresses?_

"Oh my gooooddd...!" I freak out, pausing my reading. Himawari's reading along just as invested, clutching my arm and Boruto's head is almost getting in the way because he's looking so closely and intimately at the message.

' _I know I make fun of you for wanting to study fashion, when I think you're the least fashionable person in the school. But... you really, are beautiful. You make people feel that way. You'll make it to your dream school in Italy. You have what it takes. You'll do great in whatever you chose to do after next year._

 _'My family has a branch over in Milan, actually. Maybe if you really do get into your dream school, I promise one day I'll meet you in Italy and we'll play basketball and we'll see who's the better player by then. I promise._

 _'I'm not good at being romantic... so sorry if this wasn't very good or straightforward. I know I've been avoiding you lately, and there's a decent reason for that. You've been my friend since I started here, and you've always been honest with me. And to be honest with you... I actually really like you._ '

(! WHAT)

 _'We should talk. Whenever you read this. Or if you never talk to me again that's fine too. I wouldn't want you to feel awkward around me. You know where to find me._  
 _\- The Asshole_ '

. . .

The three of us are sitting so still, just staring at the book. Oh. My. God. "That was _not_ Sasuke," Boruto says first in denial.

"But you said it was his handwriting," Himawari says.

"Yeah but, like, _WHAT_?" Boruto yells, almost laughing but still gasping. "That was so SAPPY! A-And from Sasuke!" High school Sasuke. "He... He really did like your mom."

"This was his confession," I smile, my eyes glazed and my cheeks warm. Not the smoothest confession but... definitely one. I close the book and hug it close to my chest. "They must've gotten together right after this and started dating for their senior year." I laugh, almost feeling like crying. "They promised to meet in Italy one day - to play basketball of all things." A happy tear escapes my eye and past my glasses. How embarrassing. "They're so stupid."

Himawari looks worrisome at me and to Boruto a well, who doesn't quite know how to handle me.

"Sorry guys," I cry, removing my glasses to wipe my eyes. "I just, never thought I'd see any proof that my parents really loved each other. I was starting to think that maybe they never did so this is pretty nice to see." I sniffle, realizing that wiping my tears away isn't really doing anything. "Why am I crying? I'm not sad at all so why can't I stop?" I try to say in between sobs.

The next thing I know I feel a hard hug from Himawari beside me, her face snuggled against my chest. "It's because you're happy-crying Sarada," she says. "You can cry when you're really happy, too."

"Aw," I sob, accidentally making a hiccup, "That's pretty cool," I say in a high pitched voice.

"Geez," Boruto sighs. _Girls_. He get some tissues from the tissue box on my desk and comes back to sit down beside me again. I take the tissues gratefully as he rubs my back. Himawari still hasn't let go, and we sit as I try to pull myself back together. Easy to say, the crying wouldn't stop for the next fifteen minutes.

This feels amazing.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

At some point after Sasuke came home from the pharmacy last night, Boruto high tailed it out of my bedroom back to his while Himawari and I quickly assumed sleeping-mode. Sasuke had come back to check in on our room, probably for Himawari, but left us soon enough once he thought we were asleep.

Despite the late night up, I found myself waking up early anyway. Himawari was still knocked out. I even went to Boruto's room to see if he was up - hilariously enough he was entangled on the ground at the side of his bed in his covers. But still asleep. He must've fallen at some point.

It was only 6:30, but I figured I could start to make breakfast for everyone. As a thank you to Sasuke for taking care of us and for Himawari and Boruto for going along with everything last night.

When I reach the kitchen I start gathering the ingredients from various places, trying to make as little noise as possible. Something easy like pancakes should be doable. In the middle of finding the flour and eggs, I overhear Sasuke enter the kitchen as well. "Sorry, did I wake you?"

"No, you didn't," he assures, rubbing the side of his head. Does Sasuke have bed hair? He looks at the counter and sees all these jars and boxes of things I've taken out.

"I'm making pancakes," I say before he can lecture me, "Thought I could get started early. I hope that's okay."

"Oh no yeah it's fine," says Sasuke. "Looks like you know where everything is now though. I remember how much of a mess there was the first time you tried making something by yourself."

I remember that too. "Haha, sorry." I didn't realize how comfortable I became with their kitchen over the past few weeks. Anyway, I still have the yearbook in my room, so I'll have to return it at some point today when I get the chance. "What's your schedule today, Sasuke?"

"I have a meeting at one of the Uchiha buildings in the city later today."

"You look pretty stressed," I note as he sits across the counter from me. "You're normally not. Did you get enough sleep?"

"It's not the meeting, and the lack of sleep is fine," Sasuke tells me honestly. "It's Naruto."

"Naruto?" I frown. "Is this about Himawari?"

"He called last night asking how you guys were, and I gave a normal report. I didn't say anything about Himawari so she's safe, but he seemed unusually serious, though."

"Come on even Naruto has his serious moments."

"No. You didn't hear him over the phone," Sasuke tries to persuade as I pour him some coffee. "Ah, forget about it. It's not your problem. And thanks," he says, holding the coffee cup. I give a weak smile, unable to shake the idea something could possibly be up with Naruto.

"Anyway I need to go pick up some files from Ino's and I'll be right back. Will you guys be okay in the house alone for a couple minutes?"

"Psh yeah of course." Sasuke smiles and ruffles my head before heading out with his coffee. I stand there mixing pancake battle for a while until I hear the front doors close through and Sasuke's car drive off. Just as I put the bowl down, I notice Boruto and Himawari's head stick out from the side door to the kitchen.

"Should probably put this back while he's out," Boruto advises, holding the yearbook. I smile back from the counter. Just what I was thinking.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"It was right here, right?" Boruto asks, on his knees behind Sasuke's desk.

"Don't just stash it there, it was under all the office supplies," I lecture, standing over him. Himawari meanwhile is looking around the room. She rarely gets a chance to see Sasuke's office so this must be pretty interesting for her.

"Hold these will ya?" Boruto hands me some notepads while he pulls out smaller containers of staples or paperclips. I stand paranoid and impatient while he continues to empty the drawer. Oh my god.

Himawari stands beside a small side table, looking at a few certificates on the wall over it. Two frames hold photos. One of Sasuke and some important business man shaking hands. The other frame holds Naruto, Hinata, and Boruto in a recent family portrait setting.

"How the hell did you slide that book out of here in the first place without making a mess?"

"Just hurry up and put everything back," I rush. The book's back in the drawer. It's just a matter of arranging all the office supplies back over it, which Boruto is quick to do. At the same time I notice Himawari standing in place facing the wall. "You alright, Himawari?" I call over.

Boruto hearing so sits up a little, and sees his sister. We can only see her back, but Boruto knows exactly what she's looking at, and he frowns.

"Do you think Mom and Dad hate me?" she asks out of the blue.

I don't expect to hear such a question from her, so it breaks my heart a little hearing so. Boruto quickly stands up, as if baffled to have heard her ask. "Of course not. Why would you ask that?"

Her back stays facing that way, towards the family photo that she is obviously absent from. "I know it's ridiculous asking, and I've been trying not to say anything... but, sometimes I feel like they don't really want me, you know?" Is she crying? I can't see her face, but she sounds so calm. Sad calm. "The adults at school never say why, but I know Dad's the one who never lets me visit."

"That's-" Boruto cuts himself off, not exactly sure what to say. He bites his lip, looking down. "Dad's... Dad's just..."

I wondered if this was ever going to be brought up. Himawari's a smart girl, despite her happy-go-lucky demeanor. "I know for sure they don't hate you," I say confidently. Boruto's head whips around. "They could never hate you, Himawari-"

"Don't fill my sister's head with lies about our Dad," Boruto frowns. Are you kidding me? "He's the one who's kept us apart all these years. If he's going to be a horrible dad then we shouldn't sugarcoat anything about him."

"Boruto that's a terrible thing to say."

"You don't exactly have a dad with the father-of-the-year award either," he retorts seriously, hitting a soft spot. My face falters a bit. "So don't act like you know how we feel, or assume our dad's a good man."

I can't even think of anything to say back to something so hateful. Himawari won't even turn away from the wall, and Boruto's just... angry. Understandably but, still. While the three of us stand around in silence, none of us hear Sasuke swiftly arrive at the office entrance. He stops suddenly, seeing all of us here and clearly not expecting it. We all look at each other for a moment with the same surprise.

"S-Sasuke!" Boruto exclaims, realizing he and I were behind Sasuke's desk: A total do-not-enter zone. "We were just-!"

"Shut up. I don't care," Sasuke points quickly, slamming the doors shut. He hurries walking over to Himawari and herds her over to us behind the desk. "You guys have gotta hide. Right now." Sasuke starts feeling around the walls, rather panicked.

What? "Why-?"

"Naruto's back," Sasuke cuts off, still feeling around his wall. Eventually his hand presses somewhere into the wallpaper and it releases the seal on a secret closet doorway. What the hell? "There's no time to get Himawari out of here. Three of you. In here. Now."

Quickly I put my reassuring hands on Himawari's shoulders and walk her in, asking no questions. Boruto looks totally baffled by the secret doorway and Sasuke has trouble hurrying him in. "Since when was this here?!" Boruto yells.

"You won't suffocate in there if that's what you're worried about," Sasuke says. And once we're all inside he slides the door back shut, and we blend right into the wall. It's dark, like the inside of a close. There's a small peep hole tilting in some light, and so we can see back out into the room. Himawari stays in my arms protectively as we try to keep quiet. Because just in time, I see Naruto storm right into the office.

"That was pretty shitty of you to cut me off on the turn back there," Naruto accuses. "What was with the hurry to get back home?"

"You know. I hate leaving Sarada and Boruto alone for too long."

"Alright cut the bullcrap, Sasuke. I know you've been lying to me."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Himawari's school called me. You approved of her extended leave," Naruto accuses angrily, walking up to the Uchiha. "And behind my back, are you serious?"

"So what if I did? The kid deserves some time at home," Sasuke argues to his face.

"That's not your call man," Naruto shoves, and now both men are almost chest to chest in the most hostile I've ever seen them before. I hold Himawari tighter as the three of us struggle to stay quiet in this tense atmosphere. "This is more than about Himawari alright. This is _my family_."

"Well why does it have to be so damn hard for Boruto to see his sister? You've been so uptight about this for years and you know what? I've always laid off it. I've never told you how to parent your kid and I never asked any questions. But do you even have any idea how all of this makes your kids feel?"

"Don't lecture me about my kids," Naruto argues, and by now they're both holding onto each other's shirt-collars, about to fight it out. Should I stop them? Would exposing ourselves be the wrong thing to do?

"Stop it," Hinata's unusually stern voice appears. The two men in the room put a stop to their hostility for just a moment to look at the serious-faced woman. Also just back from her trip she looked well, yet also very calm - as opposed to Naruto and Sasuke. There's this air of superiority to Hinata, like someone had just flipped a switch. "And Sasuke's right, Naruto. We've been going about this all wrong."

 _We?_

"What?" Boruto almost whimpers in our hiding.

Sasuke lets go of Naruto first, and then vice versa. Naruto looks defeated, and Sasuke even more confused than ever.

"You've been patient with us for years, never asking questions and staying out of our family's affairs out of respect. I can't thank you enough for that," Hinata says, walking in beside her husband. "But that doesn't make it right, what we've done."

"So the two of you?" Sasuke asks, pointing at them both. "You've both been in on this thing with Himawari's school?"

"We-"

"Just me," Hinata admits, cutting off Naruto. Meanwhile in our hiding space, Boruto Himawari and I are barely breathing. Hinata? Seriously?

"I'll tell you, because you look quite invested, Sasuke," Hinata offers. "You must've really bonded with the kids while we were gone. I envy that." Sasuke doesn't say anything, waiting patiently to hear the explanation she surprisingly offered. Hinata frowns, looking down. "Gakure-Prepatory is owned by my family. All branches are run and funded by the Hyuugas. The particular school Himawari attends now is the same one Naruto attended, where we met."

"We know that," Boruto whispers, taking all this in carefully.

"I was next in line to be head of the family," Hinata continues on. "But had other plans. I'd met Naruto. I wanted to marry," she holds his hands resting on her shoulders. "I wanted to raise a family, away from the corporate pressures of the Hyuuga Family. And I believed my cousin Neji was better suited for the position anyway. Of course due to liniage, the elders disagreed with our suggested arrangement."

"Neji Hyuuga's your cousin?" Sasuke realizes. "Corporate tycoon Neji Hyuuga?"

Hinata nods shyly. "He always had such a natural affinity to leading the family business. And I'd already had two children. As a result we struck a deal with the elders."

Sasuke makes a face. "What kind of deal?"

"We send one of the kids to Gakure-Prepatory, or Hinata leaves to head their company and lives away from her kids, forever," Naruto answers, as it looked painful for Hinata already.

My eyes widen, and I can feel Himawari trembling in my arms. Boruto beside me must have stopped breathing, because I can barely hear him. What kind of threat is this? To a family with such young children?

"My family already didn't approve of Naruto," Hinata admits, rather ashamed. "And our headquarters are far away from Japan. If I left my family then to take over the Hyuuga Company, it was a garuntee I'd never see my husband or my children again."

Naurto looks solemn, holding his wife's shoulders tightly. Sasuke appears to be in just as much plain shock as us, and Hinata looks so sad and guilty.

"It was the hardest decision I've never had to make in my life," Hinata says regretful. "But between leaving one of my children or both of them I...-" Her hand comes up to her mouth, and she starts sobbing. "I was such a bad mother."

Naruto quickly turns her around into his embrace, holding the back of her head and rubbing her back. "It's me too," Naruto finally says, now that Hinata's secret was out. "If you'd married some rich guy instead you wouldn't be having this problem with your family."

Hinata tries to stop crying. "I was selfish. I should've left, so that Himawari could've stayed with you and Boruto."

"There was no right or wrong way to have handled it," Naruto assures, just as much regret in his voice as hers. "The kids would have been without a mother otherwise."

"The Hyuugas limit your contact," Sasuke begins to understand. "They wanted to start raising a new heir with a clean foundation up. If they couldn't have you, they wanted one of your kids."

"She must hate us," Hinata sobs, trying to dry her eyes. "Himawari."

"Boruto already hates me," Naruto scoffs. "If anyone the kids should be mad at it's me. I've been the one keeping them all apart. I'm a just as horrible dad."

"No you're not!" Himawari cries, from within the walls.

She's suddenly out of my arms and running out of our hiding spot, sliding the hidden door open. She keeps crying until she runs straight into her dad's side, whipping her arms around his waist in a desperate hug for assurance. "I-I'm not mad at all, Daddy! I *sob* I've missed you and Mom so much! I'm sorry I ever doubted you!"

She continues to cry and wail uncontrollably, and I see Naruto just staring down at his daughter in shock. It's been years since they've seen her. How much bigger must she be? How much more grown must her voice sound? Eventually, Naruto tears up as well and without words, picks her up and hugs her just as tightly. I can overhear him muttering sorry over and over into her sweatshirt, trying to ease his daughter's unstoppable crying.

Even Hinata is in tears as she hugs Himawari between herself and Naruto.

Im still standing in place with Boruto in our position in the Wall, just watching this all happen. I look to the side at Boruto, wondering why he hasn't sprinted out of here yet. His mouth is hung slightly open, and there's tears calmly starting to run down his face.

"Aren't you gonna go?" I ask gently. He jumps a little, as if snapped back to reality. A good eventually runs out of the closet as well and bombards his family hug, trying to keep in his tears.

After coming out of the wall, I appear slowly beside Sasuke, almost startling him. "You totally almost decked Naruto," I state. "So much for respecting their privacy. I didn't think you would've gone as far as to argue like that."

"I didn't think I was going to get an actual answer," Sasuke says, still a little shaken up by the truth. Now there's this dramatic family reunion in the middle of his office. Emotional moments probably aren't quite his forte. But whether he knows it or not, Sasuke did a good thing by interfering.

"We should make breakfast," I suggest, smiling and feeling all warm inside. Happy crying. Himawari won't stop crying, but by now I can tell that this non-stop waterfall of hers must be happy crying now.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

For the first time in a while, we were all seated together around for a huge family breakfast-lunch thing. I guess that's brunch. We made a bunch of favorites together. Everyone helped with cooking this time, too. Even Sasuke helped. Something similar to this would probably be me and mom making Christmas dinner with Karin, Suigetsu, and Jugo. That's always such an exciting time.

This is pretty even.

Naruto and Sasuke both sit at opposite heads of the kitchen table, while Boruto and I sit together on one side, with Himawari and Hinata on the other. Conversation never stopped, and our meal lasted for a long time. Probably due to the talking. No one minded or had anything to do today.

It was perfect.

After the meal, Sasuke, Hinata and Naruto wanted to walk and talk around the mansion, something they used to do when Himawari was younger. I offered to wash all the dishes, and Boruto surprisingly offered to stay behind and help me out.

It takes us about five minutes to transfer everything on the table over to the counter by the sink. "You could've walked around with everyone else," I mention, starting up the faucet water. "It's been a long time since it's been just you and them. I could've been out of your way for a little while."

"Don't be stupid. You're part of this family too, now," Boruto comments, placing some pots into the sink before me. "And I'm not just saying that because you're blood related to Sasuke. Even if you weren't, you're a part of this family now."

I didn't mean to take what he said to heart, but hearing so warmed me up inside a little. In a great way. And for a while in silence we wash and dry together. "While we're alone," he begins, and I prepare myself for whatever he's going to say. "I wanted to apologize."

My head jumps. "What for?"

"For, snapping at you. Back in Sasuke's office. And for talking about your dad like that. It was insensitive and pretty messed up of me to say," Boruto admits, in a 'I'm-doing-this-because-I-have-to' kind of tone, yet also somehow sincerely? I guess? "I was just angry."

So formal, and so mature of him. Wow. "Well you're forgiven," I play along, taking his apology in strides.

"Sarada?" he asks.

"Mhm?"

"How do you always see the good in people?" Boruto asks quite randomly.

"You're being unusually introspective today."

"Seriously," he says while he passes me the sponge. "You knew nothing about Sasuke, and you still believed there was a chance things would turn out fine. Then you met the asshole that was your dad, and despite that you still keep trying to see the good in him." Boruto shakes his head, not getting it.

"And?"

"And," Boruto pauses, "I dunno. How can you keep believing in people? Or even in bad people?" He turns back to the sink. "I feel like the natural thing to do with bad people is to only remember the bad in them."

"Well," I start, thinking about my answer carefully and just as introspectively. Rarely do I ever get Boruto into such a serious conversation topic like this. I want to give a worthy-enough answer. "Despite the cheesy 'I think everyone deserves a second chance' answer, or even the 'anybody has good in them' argument," I begin, "I think it's just as important for people to have other people believe in them, you know?"

Boruto keeps his confused frown, slowing in his washing of dishes.

"Like, how can you do any good if people don't believe in you?" I point out. "Of course you need to believe in yourself first, but it helps having others' hope too." Am I going off tangent? "Sorry. I don't know if that really answers your question."

"No, it does," he assures. Does it? He smiles at me. "Must be a partial unique trait of yours. Not a lot of people think like that, I'll tell you now."

I smile a little to myself, taking that subtle compliment. I pass him another pot lid from my side of the sink, and we wash the dishes together in comfortable silence and the occasional joke and shove.

For once, in this once very dark and serious mansion, everything felt like a complete family.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

The day ends very tiresome for everybody. Tonight, Himawari is sharing a bed with her parents. just for tonight, so for now I have my room to myself again. I side-step around Himawari's politely rolled up sleeping bag and make my way into bed. A very long and exhausting day, but well worth it.

Himawari only has a couple days left to stay, but with Naruto and Hinata here it'll definitely be a lot better and worth it. Especially now that we're all on the same page.

With things sort of back to normal, I sit up relaxed in my bed with the lighting dimmed down as I pull out my laptop. With one more adjustment of my glasses I start typing up into the search bar, ' _Sasuke Uchiha, October 2005_ '.

When I hit enter I'm hit with this anxiousness of awaiting for the results to load. However what shows up isn't exactly as direct as I imagine. There's tons of articles on Sasuke Uchiha online, sure. But, there doesn't seem to be a lot of activity around this time. There's a lot of others.

 _'Sasuke Uchiha attends Yoswei Gala, September 1st, 2005.'_  
 _'Sasuke Uchiha attends groundbreaking at City Hall, September 19th, 2005.'_  
 _'Youngest heir to the Uchiha Fortune attends Konoha Group Summit, November 17th, 2005_.'

Tons of events that surround the time frame I'm looking for, but it's like... he went ghost. For a whole month. Even towards the end of September and the beginning of November. There's literally nothing on Sasuke Uchiha. No matter how hard I research. Political articles. Gossip Magazines. Celebrity Tabloids. It's just this weird blank period.

I stare contemplative at the screen, crossing my arms and thinking long and hard about this. "This doesn't add up. It's not like he just vanished off the face of the earth."

To flip the switch I look up my mother around the same date. Where was she during all of this? "Mom just graduated college, so she could be anywhere." Mom became a famous enough designer eventually after school. I don't know if there'd be any articles on her at this point.

And similarly, just like Sasuke, there's very specific blank period around October 2005 for my mom. Unlike Sasuke she at least had social media, but even more suspiciously there's a solid lack of posts or updates in and around October. Her last post in September 2005 said she was just getting out of a Paris Internship. Shortly after that her social media posts lessened and lessened - presumably because of me and her pregnancy.

After all this settlement with Boruto's family, I thought the day would end at least on a peaceful note. Now I don't know whether to be scared or, happy I've found a lead. A really bad one.

I contemplate emailing Chouchou and the guys back home to update them, but instead I close the laptop and put it aside, laying back down. There's goosebumps along my arms as I huddle under the covers. I want to text Boruto, if he's still awake, and tell him my findings too.

' _No. He just got his sister and his parents back. He should enjoy his week_.' I'll tell him after Himawari leaves. Everything's always been about me ever since I moved into the mansion. He deserves to enjoy at least a week without this Sasuke drama.

It'll be fine, is what I tell myself. But I can't shake the curious longing of wanting to know what happened between my parents.

* * *

Hi everybody! I've been on vacationing of the country, so I haven't had time to edit and upload this. But I've found Internet and now it totally feels like a vacation sitting back and finishing this chapter. It was pretty fun to write, and I wish I could've had more time to work on it, but now Himawari has her family back again!

Tell me what you think! The next chapter is going to be a total rollercoaster - Karin and her gang have finally tracked down Sarada. Thanks again so much for all the review and the support so far guys! I love hearing your reactions!

Thanks for reading!

 **PREVIEW:**

 _ **"IS THAT SARADA? TELL HER HI! -" Naruto's background yell is muffled by something else - probably Sasuke. I giggle a little.**_

 _ **"This guy wanted me to ask if you wanted any souvenirs from over here," Sasuke says calmly. Somehow I can hear a struggling Naruto in the back noise.**_

 _ **Those two together are always a funny duo. "I'm okay, thanks."**_

 _x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x_

 _ **Soon enough I see some of their profiles and faces. It's Karin, Suigetsu and Jugo. Karin's holding what looks like a photo, asking people around a question- Oh my god they're here looking for me.**_

 _ **Boruto's about to reach out. "Sara-"**_

 _ **"Get down!" I quickly palm Boruto's head and push him down with me behind our shopping cart. I look through the see-through portions of our cart, careful we're a good distance across the market from them.**_

 _ **-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

 _ **"You know what. If you're angry, then yeah. Be angry. Curse Sasuke out, be my guest. But if you're sad don't hide that bull."**_

 _ **"I am angry! And I'm heartbroken!" I yell at Boruto, hitting his chest with the bottom of my fists with each statement. "I, I feel so stupid! How could he just let my mom go like that?! Didn't he care he was gonna have a kid!? Didn't he give a shit about me at all?!"**_

 _ **x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

 _" **Sorry Uncle, I have some friends over," Shikadai introduces. "Guys this my Uncle Gaara. Uncle this is Boruto and Sarada."**_

 _ **Boruto and I stand upright** **respectably** **, nodding in greeting to the man. "Hi- Hello." Despite his intimidating look Gaara has, there's this very proper air about him. I can see him looking at Boruto and me, as if judging us maybe.**_


	16. Don't Take me Home Pt1

**Chapter 16: Don't Take Me Home Pt.1**

 _ **Sarada's on the run when she discovers her home babysitters, Karin, Suigetsu and Jugo, are in Japan looking for her. Afraid they'll take her back home, Boruto helps her stay hidden. However Sarada ends up meeting another old friend of her mother's, and discovers perception-changing information about Sasuke.**_

* * *

"Aannd, now we need some salmon," Hinata reads from her shopping list.

"That's this way," Boruto leads, pushing the shopping cart. The three of us walk through the supermarket collecting whatever's on Hinata's shopping list. It never hit me that during my entire stay here that I've never set foot in a supermarket. Hinata explained to me that she normally does it with one of the maids coming with her - it's not really a 'family' thing to do. When I explained to Boruto I always go with my Mom and my babysitters to do groceries, he gave me the weirdest look.

And with Naruto and Sasuke off on a weekend business trip to Hawaii (Naruto playfully called it their honeymoon getaway - to which Sasuke had no laughs for, hilariously enough), Hinata thought it'd be fun to bring Boruto and me shopping with her.

"Hey I just got a text from Himawari," Boruto shows us. "She said her flight back to school just landed, and that she was really happy for her vacation with us. She also said that she really likes you, Sarada."

"Aw, she's so sweet," I smile embarrassingly. I grew really fond of Himawari, too. She left about two days ago.

We're half way through the list though, and Boruto looked to be surprisingly enjoying himself helping Hinata around the supermarket. We reach the back of the store where all the fresh fish are. "You guys wait here with the cart while I get the fish, okay?"says Hinata.

"Okay," we reply. She gives a sweet smile before walking away. I lean on the cart with the list while Boruto stands beside it with his hands in his pocket. While I pass the time crossing off things we've already picked up, Boruto tilts his head back in my direction. "So what's been up with you?"

"What do you mean," I say, focused on Hinata's super dense shopping list.

"Come on Himawari's gone now, and my mom's out of earshot," Boruto points out. "You've been kind of tense the past few days. What gives?"

I'll admit, trying to keep my internet search findings to myself during Himawari's stay was more difficult than I thought it'd be. There'd be instances I'd be quiet in large groups for long periods of time, zoning off and thinking to myself. Or moments where Boruto could tell I wanted to tell him something, but I'd keep my mouth shut.

I bite my lip and look to make sure Hinata will be occupied for at least a little while. "Remember how you said I should look up where my parents were nine months before my birthday?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I did," I shrug, putting the list down finally.

"So? What'd you find?"

"There were a bunch of articles on Sasuke during that time, but nothing during October 2005. Like, at all. It's like he vanished off the media or something. Off everything."

"Really?"

"Same with my mom," I admit. "She stopped making posts on her social media around the same time. It's just this obvious blank period for both of them, and it's more suspicious than assuring."

"Blank period," Boruto repeats, thinking. "In my experience, whenever there's an obvious empty spot in the media on somebody for a long period of time like that, it's most likely intentional."

"Intentional?"

"Yeah. You know, scandles and shit. International incidents. If anybody has enough money, they can pay all the big media outlets to keep shut about anything."

"Like... a sudden pregnancy?" I start putting it all together in my head. And I can see it in Boruto's eyes that it's clicking for him too. It makes sense. A then-heir to one of the biggest companies in Japan, getting pregnant with a random girl who's totally not part of the rich lifestyle. And the Uchihas definitely have the money to bribe being out of the spotlight.

 _Though, I'd feel terrible if I was the reason their relationship fell apart.._

"We need more information," I summarize, before my brain can go too far with more theories.

Boruto nods, just as eager for answers. "Did you tell anybody else?"

"Not yet-" In the distance I see a familiar red-head, past the crowd of shoppers. I know that hair color anywhere. But it can't be.

Boruto leans over, waving his hand in front of my face. "Sarada?"

I try to focus and maybe see her face. But then two other figures come around her. A guy with white hair, and a bigger guy with orange hair. _Oh man. Oh no no no no no_. Soon enough I see some of their profiles and faces. It's Karin, Suigetsu and Jugo. Karin's holding what looks like a photo, asking people around something. _Oh my god they're here looking for me._

"Sara-"

" _Get down_!" I quickly palm Boruto's head and push him down with me behind our shopping cart. I look through the see through portions of our cart, careful we're a good distance across the market from them.

"What's happening?"

"Remember those babysitters I told you about? The ones who helped my Mom with taking care of me?" I ask, keeping my voice to a low harsh whisper. I point through the side of the cart, at the three odd figures. "That's them."

" _That's_ them?" Boruto repeats, eyes blaring through the cart. He makes a face. "Your babysitters look like they just got out of prison." Jugo's tattoos and muscles, and Suigetsu's scars and teeth definitely don't paint a picture of the perfect nannys.

"That's not the point. What the hell are they doing here? I haven't felt this panicked since Chouchou, Iwabe and Denki visited Japan. Only this is probably worse. No. Definitely infinitely worse. Like, fatally worse."

"Sarada you're overreacting."

"Uh, no I'm not! If they're here and they find me, they're going to expose me - bring me home." It'll ruin everything.

"Guys?" Boruto and I quickly stand up straight, to Hinata right behind us. "Everything alright?"

"Uh-"

"Sarada said she has a bit of a stomach ache," Boruto lies, putting his arm around my shoulders and supporting me upright. "Do you mind if I take her outside for some fresh air?"

"You feeling okay, Sarada?" Hinata frowns, kneeling down and feeling my forehead.

"Oh yeah I'm fine. Just a little nauseous. Must be something I had earlier," I say.

"Then go ahead. I can finish up the shopping here," Hinata says. "If you guys need to use the driver to take Sarada home then you're more than welcome to."

"That's fine Mom. I'm sure Sarada just needs a breather. Maybe a walk outside," Boruto laughs, walking away with me carefully face-hidden from view of Karin and the others. Hinata waves us off as we try to get aisles away, and eventually to the exit.

"You're hiding me not putting me in a headlock," I lecture, kind of uncomfortable in our inconspicuous speed-walk.

"You wanna get out of here without getting caught right?" Boruto says in a harsh whisper. "Keep your head down and stay quiet."

Karin and her gang are a little too close to the exit, so Boruto waits a moment before quickly hustling us out the automatic doors. I can see them desperately asking people if they've seen the girl in the photo. A risky glance over makes me realize they have a photo of me with long hair and no glasses - hopefully no one recognizes me that way enough to lead them back to the mansion.

When we get out of the supermarket, Boruto finally lets go of me. I can feel my heartbeat trying to beat out of my chest. "If they're here, it's not just for today," I pant.

"Good thing Sasuke and my dad are out of town then," Boruto points out. It'll make all this craziness at least a little easy to manage with them in Hawaii. Boruto looks back, seeing them about to head out too. "Quick over here!"

Boruto grabs my hand and we go to hide behind a couple giant potted plants. We stay squatted behind with out heads sticking out slightly. The three of them come out, looking tired and dejected. "Told ya coming here was a stupid idea," Karin lectures in her usual demeaning tone.

"All the locals go to their supermarket," Suigetsu shrugs, not in the mood to argue with the woman.

"We should check downtown," Jugo suggests, the peace-keeper he is. The three make their way into the parking lot.

"Where's the car again?"

"I can't remember which one we rented."

"You idiot," Karin lectures.

I watch them walk away together, arguing the whole way until I can't hear them anymore. "They haven't changed," I mutter out loud. Suddenly I feel something cover my face.

It's Boruto's hoodie. "Put this on with the hood. We're gonna make a run out of the parking lot in a sec."

"What are we gonna do?" I frown, a little to panicked in the head to think logically. I just know I need to hide. "It's too risky to go back to the mansion, even with Sasuke out of the country. And I can't just wander around town either. Knowing my luck we'll run right into them."

"Hold on a sec, lemme call the guys," Boruto thinks up, pulling out his phone and speed dialing them one by one. Boruto holds the phone to his ear, and I lean in to listen, too. He tries to keep his blush to himself as we wait for someone to answer. First Inojin. But after a minute of not answering, Boruto curses and then proceeds to call Mitsuki.

We wait a couple seconds, but it eventually goes to voice mail. Boruto hangs up before Mitsuki's message ends. "Alright Shikadai's gotta answer," Boruto encourages, dialing him now. "At least his place is the closest." I bite my lip as his ring goes on a little longer than the others. We wait a bit more for him to answer. "Pick up the phone man, pick up the phone."

After too long, Shikadai finally does answer, and I feel a small weight off my chest. " _What do you want_ ," he says as lazilly as ever.

Boruto groans, holding his head back. "Dude! About time! Listen, can Sarada and I hide out at your place for a while?"

" _Right now_?" Shikadai asks, a little unsure.

"Yeah dude come on. We really need your help."

" _I dunno, Boruto. I have family over right now_."

"It's an emergency," Boruto says, as seriously and urgently as possible. "I wouldn't be bugging you this long if it wasn't. Look, I'd explain right now if I could but we're in a hurry. Hey I'll share my cheat codes for our game tonight if you do this for us."

I hear a bit of silence on his end of the phone, and I wonder what we'll do if we can't hide at Shikadai's place. " _Alright_ ," Shikadai gives in. " _Fine. But I want those cheat codes_."

"We'll be over in ten," Boruto hangs up, before Shikadai can change his mind. I didn't even have a chance to say thank you. Boruto looks to me. "His house is about a ten minute run from here. You can do that right?"

"Y-Yeah," I nod, looking back out to see if Karin and the guys are still looking for their car.

Boruto pulls my hood up over my hair and pulls the drawstrings of the hoodie to pull in around my face. "Run fast and stay close to me. I won't let them find see you, okay?"

I nod quickly, feeling pretty safe and secure with Boruto's assurance. He's being unusually heroic. With a countdown of a warning, Boruto grabs my hand again and we make a run for it along the side of the parking lot.

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We ran all the way downtown, towards the business district of the city. I've never seen Shikadai's place, so I don't really know what building I'm supposed to be looking for. By the sharp turns Boruto takes, he knows exactly where we're going. Still, out of paranoia I keep my eyes constant on the look out for Karin, and my hood as far over my head as it can go.

 _I wonder if my Mom knows I haven't been home._

"We're almost there," Boruto pants, not stopping our run. "See that tall building with the teal blue window reflections?" he asks, pointing his arm up. Whoa that's tall. "Shikadai lives at the top floor in the penthouse."

"A penthouse," I repeat in disbelief. Well, Shikadai is a rich kid. I can't be too surprised. Inojin's giant house was pretty big. Then there's the Uchiha Mansion. It makes sense Shikadai's family would at least live in a penthouse. I can only imagine where Mitsuki lives.

We get to the building, 801 Stoneway, and their lobby looks disgustingly rich. The tiles are beautiful and the shiniest I've ever seen. The couches and coffee tables are gorgeous and intimidating to go near. And the lobby desk looks so elegant. Once we go in Boruto apologetically lets go of my hand and I remove my hood. I feel so out of place already without looking like a hoodlum.

Boruto however appears pretty casual walking up to the front desk. "Hi again, I'm here to see Shikadai."

"Right on up then, Master Boruto," the desk-lady bows. Boruto smiles with a respectful nod before nudging his head at me in the right direction. The gold-plated elevators open to probably the most ornate elevator interior I've ever seen. There's forty-two floors, and Boruto hits the highest floor button.

I relax against the back of the elevator railing, finally not having to watch my back. Boruto looks really relieved too. "Thanks for getting me out of there."

"No problem," Boruto says with a head shake. "We can stay here till we figure something out."

We reach our floor destination and when the elevator bell dings, it opens up to this elaborate modern-style living room. Most of the front wall is glass, with moderate blacks and whites with pops of color. There's tons of natural light inside as well. "Whoa," I stare, coming out of the elevator with him.

"Don't drop your jaw," Boruto teases. From around the corner Shikadai comes out, having heard us coming out of the elevator. "Shikadai hey. Thanks for letting us come over."

"Yeah of course," Shikadai says, eyeing us back and forth. "You... guys look like you just ran a marathon."

"It's a long story," I say symptomatically.

"Um," Shikadai looks around. "My parents are out for a little while, but my Uncle's visiting from out of town. I kind of have to entertain him while they're gone. Mom's orders. But we can talk in my room. This way."

Boruto and I follow along behind Shikadai as he walks us around his home. We pass into the dining area and I startle myself, seeing the most intimidating red-haired man sitting there with a mug of tea and a book. He has these bright green eyes and these dark rings around his eyes. Like tattooed, somehow. Shikadai stops, causing Boruto to stop abruptly as well and I almost bump into his back.

"Sorry Uncle, I have some friends over," Shikadai introduces. "Guys this my Uncle Gaara. Uncle this is Boruto and Sarada."

Boruto and I stand upright respectfully, nodding in greeting to the man. "Hi- Hello." Despite his intimidating look Gaara has, there's this very proper air about him. I can see him looking at Boruto and me, as if judging us maybe.

"We'll be in my room if you don't mind," Shikadai tells him.

"Actually," the man says, with the most calm and level voice I've ever heard. He's looking straight at me. "You, your name is Sarada right?"

I swallow, nervously blinking behind my glasses. "Yes sir."

"Come here. Let me have a good look at you," he requests politely. I look at Shikadai for a moment before stepping forward from the boys. I stand before his sitting figure, and despite the tense atmosphere, I feel oddly relaxed in front of him.

Gaara looks thoughtful. "You look familiar."

"She's Sasuke's charity-kid from out of the country," Shikadai speaks up. "She's staying at the Uchiha Mansion for the summer. You might've seen her on the news or in magazines."

"Are you enjoying your stay in Japan so far?" he asks me.

"Yes," I manage out. "It's been great so far."

Gaara looks down, narrowing his eyes. "On your hand," he notions. I lift it up a bit to see what he's looking at. "Is that a cut?"

"This?" I notice on the side of my palm/ It's a small skinny dark spot I forget that's there. "It's a birthmark I've had for forever. I barely notice it so I forget it exists."

Shikadai and Boruto eye each other from the sides of their eyes before looking back at me from a distance. "Now, forgive me for being too forward," Gaara starts, looking at me in the eye, "but your last name wouldn't happen to be 'Haruno', would it?"

 _No way_. Should I lie? I don't know. I look back at Boruto and Shikadai as if for help, but they look just as baffled as I do, not knowing what to say. However Gaara looks exceptionally patient, and I feel it in my gut to just go along. "Yes sir," I finally reply.

"How do you know that?" Boruto interjects, somewhat hesitant and protective.

There's a small hint of a smile on his face that subtly goes away. "It's been a while. The last time I saw you, you were still a baby." What did he just say?

"Uncle?" Shikadai says with a face.

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"Talk about your small world," Boruto mutters. We're all seated at the table now, Shikadai a few feet away by the stove, preparing some more tea for us. So much for going to talk in Shikadai's room, but we're off the streets for now. This is probably better right?

"You knew my mom?" I ask, almost smiling.

"A long time ago yes. I don't know if she'd remember me, but I was fond of her company," Gaara tells us. "We worked together in Prague once. Then she was an interning designer at my family's branch company in the U.S. We were around the same age, so we got along there amidst all the older suits at work."

"That's crazy," I grin, very much more comfortable now. And I love hearing stories about my mom.

"Too crazy," Boruto says, still unable to believe all this. "I can't believe your mom and Shikadai's uncle knew each other back in the day."

"And you met Sarada as a baby?" Shikadai repeats, setting down a tray of cups for the tea and joining us at the table.

"Your mother had just graduated and was in the middle of working for my family, when she suddenly had to book a flight to Japan for 'personal reasons'."

"Japan," I say breathlessly. The blank period. "Do you remember when this happened?"

Gaara thinks momentarily. "Some time in the fall I believe. A few months into her internship." So she flew to Japan after all. To see Sasuke? "At the time she didn't have the money yet. She was a good designer, but she wasn't at the caliber she is now. I paid for her trip."

"Seriously?" I blink. "Why would you do that?"

"It seemed like an important matter," Gaara reminisces. "Or at least, she was very passionate about going. It was sudden, so I imagine it was urgent." I'm fascinated by every word Gaara says, as Boruto and Shikadai surely are.

"Were you good friends?" Boruto asks.

Gaara nods. "She was a good worker, I remember. Unlike most of the people at that job, she got there by her skills more than her connections. It showed in her work ethic, despite just being an intern. She treated me well as a colleague before learning I was the son of the CEO, and just the same after. Whatever she needed to do in Japan, I felt inclined as a friend to help her out."

"That's really cool of you, Uncle Gaara," Shikadai commends.

In the middle of our talk, my cell phone goes off. I check it quickly and see Sasuke's name. "Sorry, do you mind if I take this?"

"By all means," Gaara allows.

With a smile I excuse myself from the boys at the table and head back into the main living room for some privacy. I hit the answer button before Sasuke can hang up. "Hello?"

" _Hey,_ " Sasuke greets. It's a little static-y, but bearable. " _Just wanted to check up on you guys. Everything running alright_?"

"Yeah! Yeah Boruto and I are great. And Hinata's fine," I report enthusiastically. "How's your business trip to Hawaii? Enjoying the sun?"

I can already imagine the eye roll he must have. " _Naruto's definitely trying too, even though we're way too busy to relax_. _He may go home earlier than me though-"_

" _IS THAT SARADA? TELL HER HI!-_ " Naruto's background yell is muffled by something else - probably Sasuke. I giggle a little.

" _This guy wanted me to ask if you wanted any souvenirs from over here_ ," Sasuke says calmly. Somehow I can hear a struggling Naruto in the back noise.

Those two together are always a funny duo. "I'm okay, thanks."

" _I'll find you something anyway_ ," Sasuke ignores. Then why ask me? Still, I appreciate the thought. And the call. It's a little surprising, but the attention is welcome.

"Did Sakura ever mention anything about Sarada's father?" Shikadai asks, carefully wording himself. Just in time I return from my phone call. "Um, assuming she met him in Japan."

"Not to me," Gaara answers. So he doesn't know Sasuke's my dad. "During her trip she was only Japan for a few weeks before flying back to Italy."

"How was she?" I ask warily, coming back to the table. They hadn't heard me come back into the kitchen. "After her trip?"

Suddenly I can see some hesitation in Gaara's eyes. He knows something. "I don't know if your mother would approve of me telling you more."

"Please," I plead, as sincere as my awkward voice can make out. I stand back at the table beside my chair. "It's the whole reason I came to Japan. So I can find out more about my mom. S-She won't tell me anything." I have to remember to breathe. "Please tell me."

"...To this day I still don't know exactly what happened in Japan," Gaara gives in, telling me as I sit back down. "However she did confide in me that she was pregnant." I knew it. "She broke down in the middle of work, and I remember taking her aside to my father's private office to talk."

"Why did she break down?" my voice cracks. I can't imagine my mom crying. It's unheard of. She's such an emotionally strong woman.

"She said that the father wanted nothing to do with her or the baby," Gaara tells me after a few seconds of hesitation. The words hit me like a bomb, and my breathing unsteady. "I didn't ask what she did during her trip overseas, but she came back heartbroken."

I almost don't hear what Garra says afterwards. His earlier statement repeats in mindless echos inside my head. 'She said that the father wanted nothing to do with her or the baby.' _Sasuke... wanted nothing to do with my mom?... Wanted nothing to do with me...?_

Boruto can see it in my ghostly expression. He too felt slightly heartbroken for the girl across the table.

"S-So what happened to Sakura after?" Shikadai asks for us.

Gaara sighs, probably wondering if he's doing the right thing telling us all this information. "She was just twenty-one, barely stable to live alone. I made sure to wire her money so that she could stabilize herself as a mom and settle in the U.S. She had family in Japan but she insisted on not going back. I also made sure that she had a stable job after her internship at my family's company to get her started, before I moved on to another branch in Europe. Whatever she did after that was all on her. She became a famous fashion designer in her own right, and gave birth to you, Sarada."

"My mom was so strong," I manage out a little, admiring my mother even more. "Thank you so much for helping out my mom. I'm so grateful you have no idea."

Gaara smiles at me for probably the second time today. "I respect your mother very much, Sarada. It was the least I could do before my transfer. I managed to visit your mom once after you were born, to check up on her. That was the last I got to meet you." I smile cheekily, holding back my watery eyes. "Don't feel too bad. Your mom kept you from this for a reason. I can only hope I didn't cause her any burden by telling you this."

"No," I interject quickly. "I owe you so much. I can't repay you enough for telling me all this. Really," I say, half wishing Boruto and Shikadai didn't look so doubtful. "I'm glad I got to meet you during my stay here in Japan."

"Likewise," Gaara nods. "I hope you find whatever it is you're looking for while you're still here."

I wonder if I ever will... I thought I had but... now... And I just got off the phone with Sasuke. Four minutes ago I was feeling butterflies for even just getting checked up on by Sasuke. Now, I have no idea what to think of the man who practically made my mother run from heartache. Can I even look my dad in the eye anymore when he comes home?

The familiar sound of the elevator bell rings. "Guys we're home!" a woman's voice blares. In walks probably Shikadai's parents. A man who looks just like him, and a strong intimidating-looking blonde woman. "Oh, I didn't know we had visitors."

"Just some of Shikadai's friends," Gaara says. "They were keeping me company until your return."

"We'll be in my room," Shikadai self-excuses, noticing myself in the brink of probably breaking down. "Let's go guys."

Boruto and I get up and quickly follow Shikadai out of the main dining room and down a hall.

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Shikadai's room is just as boyish as Boruto's room back at the mansion. Spacious, modern in style, but with glass walls and a lot of natural light. Plenty of books and games, and his own private bathroom - which he allowed me to use.

The giant white bathroom is also just as spacious, and I stand before the sink washing my face in hopes of cooling my warm eyes. However, the more I look at my reflection, I can see a bit of my mom in me. The sadness in my eyes. Was this how she looked when she felt abandoned? I look horrible.

And I can't face Boruto and Shikadai like this.

Shikadai must've had a feeling I'd be having a moment, so he said to take my time in here while he and Boruto just chilled in his room.

I didn't plan on staying in here long. Just washing my eyes out. But soon the tears come right back. My face is warm, and for a moment, I decide to let myself cry it out while I'm out of sight of anybody.

Meanwhile outside the shut door, Boruto and Shikadai sit around the room, playing their video games. As promised, Boruto had given Shikadai some cheat codes to unlockable characters. They're playing, but obviously not as into the game as they normally would be.

In their silence, they can hear me sobbing in the bathroom, if they listened hard enough. Not that they wanted to. "I feel so shitty," Shikadai admits, trying to focus on his game.

"Me too," Boruto frowns, unable to take the sounds from the bathroom. "I can't believe Sasuke. He is an asshole after all, I can't believe it."

"I'm sorry about my Uncle," Shikadai apologizes. "If I'd known I would've stopped-"

"You couldn't have known," Boruto sighs, losing another life in the game. "Besides, with all the snooping Sarada and I have been doing, we would've found out about this sooner or later. Probably better here in your place than back at the mansion with everyone there."

"That doesn't make me feel any better," Shikadai complains. There's a sad silence between the two boys, where only the buttons of their games can be heard. "So why are you guys hiding out here anyway?"

Boruto rolls his eyes, completely forgetting their other problem. "It's Sarada's babysitters from her home," he says, tossing his game onto Shikadai's bed, no longer able to seriously play. "They must've tracked her down here. They haven't found her yet, but we're trying to keep out of sight until we figure something out."

"Babysitters?" Shikadai makes a face.

"Really scary looking babysitters," Boruto tries to convince. "It's like Sarada's mom hired guys from the Japanese Yakuza to raise her or something. Either way, we're trying to stay out of the mansion and out of the streets."

"Can't hide forever."

"At least until they're out of the city," Boruto points out. "And it's almost past sunset at least. We'll head home at nine. It should be safe by then."

"That's fine. Stay as long as you need," Shikadai allows, understanding the gravity of the situation. Just in time the bathroom door opens, silencing the boys abruptly.

My eyes (washed for the third time) are at least less red and not as puffy behind my glasses. Seeing the boys just staring at me makes me uncomfortable. "What," I frown.

"N-Nothing," Boruto answers, looking away.

"You holding up okay?" Shikadai asks seriously.

"As okay as I can, I guess," I shrug, holding my arms together. "Still a little mind boggling. I don't know how I'm going to face Sasuke when he comes home Monday. At least I have the weekend to pull myself back together, you know?" I ask with a smile.

Boruto doesn't like the fake look on my face. "You wanna talk about it?"

"I'd rather not," I say honestly, walking over and plopping down between the two boys. "So, show me what game you're playing. I'd love to learn."

Boruto and Shikadai look at each other, unsure how to act around a girl who's obviously not alright - but playing the cheerful card anyway. There's so many wrong ways to treat this.

I look between them. "Come on just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I can't play."

"H-Here then," Shikadai offers, giving me his handheld game. Boruto starts giving me pointers while Shikadai sits closer with us and watches.

We play games together and hang out in his room for the next few hours of the day.

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By nightfall, after eating dinner with Shikadai's family, Boruto announces that he and I should get going home before his mom calls. Shikadai's mom, Temari, arranges for their driver to get a car ready to drop us off.

"Thank you again for the talk, Gaara," I thank one more time. Despite the bad news, I'm still grateful to know finally what sort of happened. "I'm glad I got to meet you again. When I see my mom again, I'll tell her you said hello."

"I'd appreciate that, actually," Gaara nods, walking us to the elevator. From his pocket he hands me a business card, along with an apologetic expression. I know his intentions weren't to tell me bad news. "If you ever need anything, feel free to reach out."

"Thank you," I say one more time.

"Sarada let's go!" Boruto calls from the elevator that Shikadai is holding.

I catch Gaara off guard and give him a hug goodbye very quickly. He returns it before letting me go.

I run into the elevator past Shikadai's arm. "Call me and the guys if there's anything we can do," Shikadai whispers to us, concerning the Karin-situation.

"Thanks man," Boruto nods, doing one of their guy-handshake hugs before Shikadai lets the elevator door finally close. As we head down the elevator, finally alone again, it's silence all the way down.

"... You-"

"If you ask me one more time if I'm okay, I'm going to scream," I say as patiently as possible.

Boruto doesn't say anything afterwards on our way down and to the driver in the apartment parking lot. It's an expensive looking white car with a uniformed driver there waiting for us. He asks us by name before opening the back door for us. It has tinted windows (as requested by Shikadai) and the quickest route back to the mansion.

The ride home is long and quiet, and I kind of want to apologize to Boruto for snapping at him in the elevator, even though I know he was just worried.

I'm just moody.

Which still isn't an excuse.

But for now I'll ride this wave for as long as Boruto will let me.

We reach the mansion way too fast. We're dropped off at the front gates, and politely wave the driver off as he goes away. It's already 9:30. "What a long day," I sigh, stretching my arms.

"Yeah," Boruto chuckles, before abruptly frowning, stopping and holding his arm out in front of me. I walk right into it and I'm about to ask what's up. But all the way past the gates, down the cobble stone walk way, there's people at our front door. It's a little too far and too dark to see clearly, but when I focus my eyes, I can see Naruto with the ballroom back light behind him. And, Karin, Suigetsu, and Jugo facing him. "Shit."

"W-W-What are they doing here?" I panic. I can't catch a break today. Sasuke might've mentioned Naruto flying home early.

Boruto's quick thinking saves us. He grabs my hand again. "We'll sneak around the wall and back. There's a tree we can climb to get up to your window."

So so skeptical, but Boruto knows the mansion better than I do, so I blindly follow along. We sneak along the shadows of the hedges and the garden walls, and the closer to the mansion we get, I can overhear the adults arguing. Sasuke did mention over the phone earlier that Naruto may return home early. I didn't think this early though. (And on what private jet gets him home that fast?) My brain connects that if Naruto's home, maybe Sasuke is too? But I don't see him.

We reach the tree Boruto mentioned on the side of the mansion, and my luckily open window is sitting right by a branch. "Up there," Boruto points. "Can you climb?"

I nod, unsure if I can actually. But Boruto helps me up as quietly as he can. In the background I can hear Karin and the guys arguing with Naruto vaguely.

"This is the Uchiha Mansion isn't it?" Karin's bossy tone goes on. She's as loud as I remember her to be. "So where the hell is Sasuke?!"

"I already told you, Sasuke isn't here," Naruto says in an already dragging tone, trying to be patient with this probably crazy woman. He must be tired if he just got back. "He's still overseas. Now, I'm going to ask you again, what business to you have here? In case you haven't noticed, it's night time and my family's probably asleep."

"I don't care!" Karin yells, Naruto and accompanying men flinching. Jeez.

Boruto is using his shoulders to give me a supported boost up one more branch, and I'm hoping to at least be inside before Naruto comes back in. "Stop shaking," I warn, feeling my knees loosen.

"Stop gaining weight," Boruto says through his teeth, struggling to stand upright with me on his shoulders.

"Okay okay," Jugo halts, putting his hands on Karin's hot shoulders and away from the clearly tired man of the mansion. "We're just here to take Sarada back."

"No!" Naruto says ridiculously to these crazy people. "I'm not just handing a child over to _strangers_!"

"Strangers?!" Karin repeats, being held back by Jugo. "You're one to talk! We've raised that brat since she was in diapers and you have the nerve to call _us_ strangers?!"

Boruto and I are about half way up the tree. "Sounds like it's getting pretty ugly out there," Boruto mentions as I try to hoist him up.

"They're not exactly known for their manners," I comment, pulling him up to my branch. "Besides, your dad can handle them." Suddenly I can hear police sirens in the distance, and Boruto and I look up. Oh my god Naruto no you didn't.

"Look guys unless you have proof of guardianship, I'm not entertaining any of your ridiculous ideas," Naruto argues as cooly as he can, already angry enough. He'd just landed from his flight, and the first thing he comes to after dropping off his luggage is a trio of mad people. "I've already called the police so you can get off my property or-"

"For the last time, we're not her guardians, we're her babysitters," Suigetsu tries to explain, a little too casually. "We work for Sarada's mom, and we just want to bring her back home."

"Yeah right," Naruto scoffs as the police cars show up at the mansion gates.

Somehow Karin squeezes out of Jugo's hold and runs up to Naruto, grasping the business man by the collar and holding him close. "I SWEAR TO GOD IF YOU DON'T RELEASE SARADA OVER TO US YOU'LL BE SORRY! YOU'RE KIDNAPPERS, ALL OF YOU!-"

Police come by just in time to pry the hot-headed lady off Naruto. One holds her arms back to handcuff her hands, while two other officers escort her down the cobblestone way by her arms. She's still kicking and screaming, and somehow none of the officers seem to bother with the two other men with her, but something drops from her pocket on her way down.

"I'll uh, go follow Karin and make sure she doesn't do anything rash," Jugo announces to his partner, leaving Naruto and Suigetsu alone.

"You want your proof of guardianship? Here." Suigetsu steps up impatiently, bending down and picking up the folded piece of paper Karin dropped. He walks over peacefully to Naruto, who swipes the paper from him. The two stare off before Suigetsu runs off after his companions.

"Crazy," Naruto frowns, scratching his head. Luckily Hinata was fast asleep by the time all this started happening. Quickly the blonde heads back into the comfort of the mansion and shuts the door, exhausted. He almost forgets he's holding something, and his first thought is to throw the paper away. But just to check, he unfolds the crumpled paper.

"Wait..." Naruto reads, holding it with both hands. It's a birth certificate. Mine to be exact. Only, it's labeled on the name as 'Sarada Harurno Uchiha'. Even more confusing, the name 'Sakura Haruno' is signed under the 'Mother' label, though the father line is blank.

Still, the Uchiha name is not to be taken lightly, even if this was a fake. Naruto uses his utmost knowledge of documentation to see any signs of this being a fake. But, nothing gives itself away to be counterfeit. As far as he's concerned, it's a real (though poorly taken care of) authentic, birth certificate.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Boruto and I have finally managed to reach my bedroom, after a solid fifteen minutes trying to climb that stupid tree outside my room. Why did it feel like climbing a cliff? No wonder it's not a common entrance. That tree is impossible to climb alone, much less with Boruto and I together.

"That was so stupid," Boruto pants, sprawled like a star on my carpeted floor.

I toss his hoodie aside, too hot from the climb up to have it stick to my body anymore. By the sound of it all, Karin Suigetsu and Jugo have left - at least for the night. And, assumingly to jail? I have no idea. I can worry about it in the morning. But now that I'm here, I have this sinking hole feeling in my chest. "Do you think Sasuke's back?"

"Nah, it must be just my dad," Boruto answers, still catching his breath. "If he were here, he would've been handling your friends at the door, not my dad. Knowing Sasuke, he stayed behind alone to finish up some work. My dad usually is the one who comes home first when those two travel together."

I'm a little relieved to hear that, but just like that my feelings on Sasuke return too. There's the photo strip of him and I from the photo booth on my birthday taped to my wall, and I get up off the floor and walk over and look at it - like it's some kind of lie. My confusion on loving him as a dad I was just starting to love, but knowing what I know now... I have no idea what to feel.

Boruto sits up, reading me all too well. "Sasuke isn't that type of person," Boruto defends, finally speaking up about the matter. "There's obviously more to this, I'm sure. We don't even know what went down when you mom came to Japan."

"We know enough," I say solemnly. "You heard Shikadai's uncle. He didn't want my mom, or me."

"Don't say that."

"It's true," I say with my voice breaking, unable to tear my eyes from the stupid photo strip. "I-I feel like everything I've been doing up till now just... doesn't matter. I... I wanna give up," I sigh, tired. "I give up."

"What do you mean 'you give up'?"

"I give up," I repeat, turning around and standing my ground in my decision. "Maybe I should just turn myself in with Karin and the others and just let them take me home before Sasuke comes back."

"Don't say shit like that. That's crazy," Boruto says, trying to stay calm.

"That's crazy? Are you kidding me, looking at me!" I say, my voice sounding like it's crying and breaking down. "I-I-I can hardly breathe knowing I probably only feel a fraction of what my mom felt knowing Sasuke didn't want us. And here I am thinking I could magically fix everything by just showing up and bonding with the guy? Screw him!"

"You know what. If you're angry, then yeah. Be angry. Curse Sasuke out, be my guest. But if you're sad don't hide that bull."

"I am angry! And I'm heartbroken!" I yell at Boruto, hitting his chest with the bottom of my fists with each statement. "I, I feel so stupid! How could he just let my mom go like that?! Didn't he care he was gonna have a kid!? Didn't he give a shit about me at all?!"

I'm definitely hitting Boruto way harder than he deserves. He doesn't deserve any of my indirect anger. But Boruto keeps his stare straight and takes the hits as straight as he can until I'm done. My punches get weaker over time, and then Boruto is eventually supporting me and holding me up as I cry.

"Why doesn't he want me...?" I sob, tears and snot coming all out.

Boruto has no words of comfort to say as he holds me. "We don't know everything," Boruto says once my crying calms. "Remember what we talked about? How you always see the good in people? No matter how bad they are?"

"This isn't the same."

"I need you keep believing that there's a reason all this happened," Boruto says, unusually mature. He lets me go and holds me by the shoulders. "I won't lie. What happened to you is really messed up. But, I grew up with Sasuke. He's an asshole. Definitely. But... the Sasuke I know would never pull shit like that."

"But, my mom came home like that..." I try to imagine, my younger mom, suddenly pregnant and shunned by the man she thought loved her. "All these years of her being so confident and hardworking, and never wanting to talk about my dad..?" I scoff. "I can't forgive him for making her that way."

"Like I said, we're still missing information," Boruto reminds. "Feel whatever you wanna feel, but making rash decisions like exposing yourself so you can go home is a pretty shitty decision that you can't come back from."

Since when did Boruto become the optimist between the two of us? I feel an odd sense of hope from him - that maybe there's still more I don't know, but there's still the same overwhelming disappointment in Sasuke for everything he put my mom through. If I was confused before, I'm even more confused now.

Before I can muster up a sensible response, my door opens. There was no knock. Just Naruto bursting in with no warning.

Boruto and I step back from one another and face front. He'd just gotten back from whatever talk he had with Karin. I totally forgot about them. Does he know anything? Did Karin expose me?

Oh my god I didn't prepare for this.

He stands at the door, his hand still on the door knob. By the no-bullshit look on Naruto's face, this isn't good.

"We need to talk," Naruto says seriously, staring us both down.

* * *

AHHHHH - the DRAMA. Are they caught? Lol Naruto you have no idea what you're in for. Still, some pretty hard stuff for Sarada :(

And thank you for all your reviews last chapter! I wanna reply to a bunch of you but unless you're signed in I can't answer ;_; I wish I could though.  
But to reply to some things:  
I'm glad you guys like Sasuke's progression so far! And Sakura will appear soon enough - just not yet haha! After a couple things everything will come back around. I do enjoy writing this fanfic, so I don't want to rush things too much. Still a good chunk and handful of chapters coming up - hopefully I'll keep it exciting and fresh each time for you guys! Include a few more characters as I continue watching Boruto - I'm so excited for next week's episode guys! It's finally catching up to the end of the movie!

 **PREVIEW:**

 ** _"A woman named Karin stopped by the mansion with this." Naruto holds up my birth certificate a little higher. "Does this mean anything to you guys?"_**

 ** _My mouth feels too dry to even say anything comprehensive. By the lack of sound I guess Boruto's the same. I mean we can both read the 'Uchiha' part plain and clear, so we can't ignore it or pretend we don't know what it implies._**

 ** _x-x-x-x-x_**

 **"You're not really thinking of turning yourself into those guys and letting them take you home, are you?" Inojin realizes, complete irrationality in his eyes..**

 **"After all the crap we put up with after your friends visited?" Shikadai mutters.**

 **"I didn't decide yet, guys," I try to control.**

 **"So you're still thinking about it," Mitsuki calmly rewords, and I frown.**

 **x-x-x-x-x**

 **"You want me to send up soup or tea or anything?" Sasuke ashs at my bedside.**

 **I keep my back to him, lying on my bed and hugging my pillow.** **"I'm fine."**

 **".. How was the house while we were gone? Do anything interesting?"**

 **"Not really," I lie. "Sasuke, I'm kind of tired and I don't really feel like talking right now. Do you mind if I just sleep?"**

 **There's a momentatry silence that follows. Sasuke wasn't expecting me to say something like that. "No of course, get some rest. I just wanted to check in on you." Reluctantly Sasuke gets up and turns off the lights for me. "Good night."**

 **"Good night," I manage it before he can close the door. Once he's gone, I shut my eyes even tighter as the tears come out. ' _I'm sorry, Sasuke.'_**


	17. Don't Take me Home Pt2

**Chapter 17: Don't Take Me Home Pt.2**

 _ **Sarada's on the run when she discovers her** **babysitters, Karin, Suigetsu and Jugo, are in Japan looking for her. Afraid they'll take her back home, Boruto helps her stay hidden. However Sarada ends up meeting another old friend of her mother's, and discovers perception-changing information about Sasuke.**_

* * *

It's Sunday morning now. Super early. Like 6:00am.

In all truths, I've been up for at least an hour now. I haven't been able to sleep last night for very long, and I don't think I can fall back asleep this time around.

My door creaks open, and a groggy Boruto stands solemnly behind it. "You ready?" he asks quietly.

I sit up, my sides a little sore from sleeping on my wrong side. Alright, this is it. Boruto waits for me to put on my slippers and solemnly and bravely we walk downstairs to the kitchen together.

What happened last night was one of the most dramatic moments of my life - next to flying out on a plane by myself without mom knowing. My stomach is in knots and I feel anxiety and nausea all together.

" _We need to talk," Naruto says last night at my bedroom door. Boruto and I stood frozen, having just been found by his dad a little too close to each other by coincidence, but apparently that was the least of our worries._

 _Did Naruto discover anything form Karin? Does he know who I am?_

 _Naruto took out an almost crumpled piece of paper from his side. I had to squint for a second through my glasses, but I recognized it as my birth certificate - Sarada Haruno Uchiha. Holy shit- "A woman named Karin stopped by the mansion with this," he said, holding it up a little higher. "Does this mean anything to you guys?"_

 _My mouth felt to dry too even say anything comprehensive. By the lack of sound I guessed Boruto was the same. I mean we could both read the 'Uchiha' part plain and clear, so we couldn't ignore it or pretend we didn't know what it implied._

 _Reading the shock on our faces, Naruto looked at us back and forth before closing his eyes and holding the bridge of his nose. "Alright, clearly we're not getting through anything today. Sasuke's not home yet so let's call it a night and we'll talk about this first thing in the morning before Hinata gets up for work."_

Naruto had given us the wake up time of 6am to meet downstairs in the kitchen, sharp. Boruto and I, as groggy and anxious as we were, took our sweet time walking down though. In a way it feels like walking to our own execution.

Boruto looks to me in our eerie silence as we go down the hall. "You're not still upset about Shikadai's yesterday are you?"

"A little," I admit, a little more open with him this morning. Part of me still wonders if I should come clean about everything to the adults and just go home. Save this whole family the trouble of my issues.

Boruto narrows his eyebrows. "Alright well you need to snap out of it or you'll get caught by my dad. When we get downstairs just let me do all the talking okay?" In the end, I give in and nod okay.

Getting closer to the kitchen I can smell bacon egg and cheese omelettes. The confusion continues when I see Boruto's dad cooking behind the counter. "Morning guys," Naruto greets with a smile from the stove, a little too casually. He's dressed in his work clothes already as per-usual, with an apron on over it.

I... don't really know how to take this. Him making us breakfast was the last thing I expected. " _Are we in trouble?_ " Boruto mutters to me, just as weirded out. I just shake my head, knowing totally nothing now.

"Here, sit," Naruto says, carrying three plates over to the table with little to no effort. He pulls open our chairs and waits for us to come forward. Eventually we do, and I sit on the right, and Boruto at the end of the table. Naruto lastly sits on the left across from me ever so slowly.

He kind of just looks at us while I keep my eyes to the hot plate of food in front of me. Fair to say, as much as I wanted to eat, it felt like a trap or something. Or it's just there for formality. We sit in this accusation all silence for about a whole minute awkwardly - one full minute of Boruto and I looking down and away from Naruto's eyes.

Naruto taps his fingers on the table. "So are neither of you going to talk about this?" Silence follows. "I'm willing to sit here all day if we have to."

More silence.

 _Boruto I thought you were going to do the talking_.

Naruto exhales ad takes out that dreaded birth certificate again and lays it on the table between the three of us. He pushes it towards us an inch closer to our plates. "Does this mean what I think it means?"

I finally bring my eyes up enough to look at it. 'Sarada Haruno Uchiha.' You know I've never actually seen my birth certificate before. I didn't know my mom added Sasuke's last name to my name. Would've made my search for my dad's identity a lot faster if I found this thing. I wonder if despite him and whatever he did, she was still hung up on him enough to add his last name to mine.

Naruto sighs, still not getting anywhere. He pulls back his hand from the certificate. "I'll be going to meet Karin and those thugs at the city jail. After this whole mess they might have something worth listening to after all. I'll be back later. No going out."

With Naruto giving up, he pushes his seat out and leaves us with the birth certificate sitting on the table with the uneaten food. We sit quietly until we hear the front doors close and we know that Naruto is gone. I continue to stare at my full printed name, unsure of what to do now.

Boruto hesitantly reaches out to take the paper, reading it more closely now. "This is pretty crazy," he says low.

"You're telling me."

"So, what do you want to do now?"

"I'm not so sure," I frown. "Your dad's got us cornered. I don't really know how this is all going to turn out." I shake my head, feeling completely drained. "Maybe I should just go back with Karin before Sasuke comes back. Save all the trouble of confrontation. I've already gotten you in trouble, and I feel really bad."

"Psh I don't give a rat's ass about getting in trouble with my dad. You need to snap out of this or you'll do something you'll regret later," Boruto warns, almost in a lecturing way. There's a hint of care and concern though. "You'll never get a chance to fix things between your parents if you give up now."

"Why are you so invested in my problems?" I say quietly.

"Because I still believe in Sasuke," Boruto says firmly, "And I know deep down you want to too." He's right. I do want to. So, so much. But I don't know if I can.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Naruto walks out of his driver's car with a long trench coat and glasses, to rather help hide his identity. It wouldn't help having Sasuke Uchiha's most trusted adviser spotted taking a trip to the city jail.

Based on the information he requested from the police, a red head woman (and two voluntary men) were apprehended and held overnight with a fair bail amount, at the downtown location. Led inside to a private room where the officers were cleared out, Naruto finds a small cage-like jail cell in the back of the room, amidst all the police work desks. The three figures from yesterday are sitting around and all look up when Naruto arrives, who removes his glasses.

"It's you," Suigetsu remembers.

"Thought I should check in on things here. Give you a second chance to explain yourselves," Naruto says seriously, walking up to the other side of the bars. "From what the officers told me you're Karin, Jugo, and Suigetsu. How was your night?"

"Cozy," Suigetsu plays along, clearly tired.

"We just want to take our kid home," Karin argues civilly, both her hands grasping the bars between her and Naruto.

"We work for Sarada's mother, Sakura Haruno," Jugo informs.

Naruto hasn't asked yet if Sasuke was the father. He's almost afraid to actually. "Look, I've paid your bail so you're free to go once I leave."

"Seriously?" Suigetsu asks, honestly surprised.

"You have a room at the Itamori Hotel around the block. Two nights."

"That big rich people one?" Jugo asks.

"That big rich people one, yes," Naruto repeats, nodding. "Just let things be for now and let me figure things out about Sarada. You can trust me with her care at the moment until I find out more about what's going on. I'll get back to you tonight and meet at your hotel room with my decision about how to go about this."

"Why the hell do you get to call the shots?" Karin asks, just as irritated as the previous night.

"Shut up he just paid our bail!" Suigetsu shoves. "Deal."

Karin throws her arms up in the air as she walks to the back of the cell. "I can't believe this crap."

"I'll go talk to her," Jugo offers, politely excusing himself from the group before walking away. Naruto unconsciously arches his brow. Definitely still an odd mix of people. A tempered crazy woman, a rather soft giant, and a maybe level-headed gang member.

Naruto and Suigetsu are left alone, on opposite sides of the bars facing each other.

"So, you've obviously pulled strings for a reason," Suigestu starts, arms still crossed. "Let's talk."

x-x-x-x-x

It's been a long day in the mansion. Naruto left early this morning and we've been anxiously awaiting his return all day. I couldn't even eat the breakfast Naruto cooked for us out of anxiousness. The paranoia of wondering what's going down with him and Karin right now, and mentally preparing for the conversation to follow when he returns is so draining.

Hinata's mentioned during the day that I looked sick and offered to make me soup, but I assured her I was good. But to add even more to the stress, Hinata said that she was heading to the airport to pick up Sasuke. Turns out he'd be heading home early. I don't know who I'm hoping to come home first - Naruto or my dad.

Fortunately Boruto's been respecting my space and is letting me be alone for a bit today. I felt bad, leaving him alone too. I never noticed it but a lot of my 'alone time' is spent with Boruto in the mansion. It made me wonder how lonely he must've been before I arrived, when his friends weren't around to hang out.

While I wander back around towards the ballroom, I realize there's someone at the front door, directing orders to some maids. At first I wonder if it's Hinata already home - but then I recognize the long blonde hair and the authoritative voice echoing around. Must be another flower delivery based on all the batches being brought in. "Ino," I call out from the top of the stairs.

Ino's head whips around and her face brightens seeing me. "Hey! Sarada! Long time no see!"

I smile and wave before rushing downstairs. It really was nice seeing her again. "I didn't know you were visiting."

"I texted Hinata I'd be delivering this week's flowers to the mansion, but she said she'd be out and to just get the maids to help. I'm almost done though." She tilts her head at me, almost inspecting me. "What's been up with you? You look tired."

"Me? Haha, probably just didn't get enough sleep last night," I say with a sheepish smile.

Yet somehow Ino's disapproving frown scares me otherwise. "Your mom did the same thing whenever she was upset." Seriously? "Say, is anyone else in the house?"

"Just me and Boruto."

"Would the kid mind if I kidnapped you for a few hours?" Ino asks confidently. "Let me take you out for lunch. It's been a while since we've caught up. We can talk," she says cheerfully, before wearing a somewhat serious look. "I insist."

Am I that see through? Maybe Ino's just that good at reading people. She _would_ be the one to talk to about this Sasuke situation. She already knows everything anyway. And slowly, I realize a small possibility shoot through my head. A maybe bad idea, but I'm running on emotions right now. This could be good. "Let me just tell Boruto I'm leaving."

"Sweet," the woman grins. "My truck's parked outside your gates. I'll be there waiting."

"I'll be fast!" I smile, running back up the stairs to get my jacket and see Boruto. When I pass his room though, he's not inside. "Boruto?" I call in. Maybe he's asleep? I can hear the shower running from his bathroom.

At that, I leave and run to my room instead. I pick up the closest and cleanest jacket laying around before passing my desk. Some blank stationary is laying around, and quickly I pick up a note and a pen. Writing that I'll be out should be good enough. If I'm lucky, I'll be out with Ino late enough to miss Sasuke coming home. Maybe he'll be asleep, and I can return to the mansion without having to greet him.

That's a terrible thought, Sarada.

But I've been thinking up terrible guilty scenarios like that for a while now - ways to avoid Sasuke. Simple and crazy.

The craziest idea still racks inside my head. One crazier than getting Karin to whisk me away back home to the states.  
Perhaps Ino could send me back to my mom instead.

My hands are frozen with the pen and paper, my thoughts racing.

Meanwhile Ino waits in her truck, checking her watch. "This girl's just as slow as Sakura I swear," Ino mutters to herself, before seeing me running in her rear view mirror.

"Sorry!" I pant, running down to her truck. I open the front passenger door and hop in, Ino stepping the gas and driving us away.

Meanwhile back in the mansion, Boruto gets out of his bathroom with a towel hanging around his neck, and his hair dripping from his afternoon shower. He swore he heard my voice earlier and expected her to be in his room for some reason, but no one was there. "I guess I was just hearing things." He does notice a folded note on his pillow.

Heading over and opening it, he reads in my handwriting: "Thank you." Boruto inspects it further, looking and and front. "What the hell is this supposed to mean?"

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Back downtown at the city jail, Naruto had been talking one on one with Suigetsu. By this time, Jugo had calmed down the still somewhat fire up Karin (a little contradictory). She went from screaming and punching the wall to pacing back and forth ranting to the poor guy - not that he minded. This was manageable.

Naruto And Suigetsu were still in each others company up by the bars. "Two days is all I ask for," Naruto finishes after explaining his situation. "You have to admit this is all pretty far fetched."

"Hey, you say she's safe and sound, we have a place to crash that's not jail - I'm down with waiting," Suigetsu scoffs, already persuaded. But his usual expression dawns again. "Just know it'll be difficult for us if we return without her." Suigetsu looks to the side, silent for a moment. "How is Sarada?" Suigetsu asks, a hint of concern in his voice.

As caught off guard as Naruto was by the question, he liked that he asked about her well being. Perhaps they could be trusted. "She's been good. Happy."

"Happy," Suigetsu smiles. "Hn, that's good then."

With nothing left to say, Naruto turns to make his leave. A few steps away however, Naruto stops. "Suigetsu right?"

"That's my name."

"Between us," Naruto hesitates. "Is Sarada really related to Sasuke?"

Suigets leans against the side of the cell with his hands in his pockets. "I don't know much about their family drama. We're just family friends who babysit when Sarada's mom has important work to do." Suigetsu tilts his head back in Naruto's direction. "But in my opinion, I think it's pretty obvious."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Ino ended up taking me out to this fast food place for some take out that we could eat at her place. It's been forever since I've ordered old fashioned take out food. The last time I did this was probably pizza with mom before finals. This was a nice pick-me-up.

"My husband's still out by the way," Ino says as we walk through her front door, the two of us carrying equally sized greasy paper bags and milkshakes. We make it to her kitchen counter and sit down.

"Is Inojin here?" I ask curiously, sitting up on a barstool.

"He might be. Last I remember he was getting ready for his horseback riding lessons. His teacher might've picked him up already," Ino shrugs. I love how carefree and chill a mom Ino can be. It really does remind me of my mom. No wonder they were best friends. We start digging in fast. I didn't realize how hungry I was until I remembered I hadn't eaten yet. I was too nervous at the mansion.

Ino seems to notice too. "Wow slow down there, kiddo. You'll choke."

"Swo-rry," I say with a full mouth, swallowing hard. She passes me my milkshake, which helps me down it all. "I'm starving."

"Clearly," she laughs, a little intrigued. "You gonna talk first or will I ask questions first?" It's no secret she brought me all this way to have a talk. "Any mansion drama going on?"

"A little," I admit, focusing on the food. "I feel confused, about Sasuke." After getting to it, I end up telling her what's been going on the past few days, what with realizing what went down with Sasuke and Mom's trip in Japan all those years ago. Ino looked pretty surprised honestly. I guess she never knew. Even she looked pretty hurt when I told her how Mom felt coming home.

Ino sighs, putting down her half eaten burger. "I knew this day would come, but I didn't know it'd be this heavy." She looks to the side at me. "How do you feel?"

"I don't know. Confused?"

"Yeah. And?"

"And?" I repeat, trying to think of words. "Angry? Sad? Betrayed? Duped. Hurt." Listing the words tore into me more and more each time. I have to steady my breathing so I wouldn't break down in front of her. "But I didn't think it'd hurt this much..."

"Oh sweetie," Ino sighs, scooting closer and wrapping her arm around me in a comforting side hug. I didn't have the heart to return it, but my head rests comfortingly in her chest. It felt good, just ranting to somebody in a safe place. "I want to kick that bastard in the face so bad."

I giggle, not expecting that to come out of her mouth. "It's okay."

"My ass it's okay," Ino rebuttals, letting me go and turning my seat so we were facing each other. "I can't believe Sakura never told me about this."

"I don't think she meant to tell anybody," I admit.

"Mom-" Inojin cuts himself off around the corner of the kitchen, noticing a second silhouette in view. _Sarada?_ Inojin was in his riding gear, with his driver parked outside by the lawn. He was on his way out to say bye to his mom, not having expected the guest before him.

I purse my lips. "Are you going to tell on me with my mom?"

"You ask that like you want me to," she tells me, and I have nothing to say.

Ino takes a moment to gather he thoughts before sending me a sympathetic stare. "I _really_ don't know how I'm going to face Sasuke like this. And lately, I've been imagining wild scenarios where I don't _have_ to. Like, if Karin forces me to come back to the States with her. Or, if Naruto decides to send me back. Or, if you decide to send me back."

Ino crosses her arms. "Do you want to go back?" I look up at her, somewhat doubtful. "Because I can buy you a ticket and send you on your way right now if you wanted."

Inojin's eyes widen from his hiding spot, and I pick my head up in disbelief.

"You think I'm joking," she almost laughs, playing with her milkshake. "But seriously. I can contact your mom, right now, and send you on a plane before Sasuke even gets back with Hinata."

"You could really do that?" I ask, not sure what to say. Ino just nods, as serious as ever.

Inojin is speechless, but behind him a man startles him out of the conversation. It's his driver, reminding him they need to leave. Unwillingly Inojin follows along for his lessons - our conversation deep in panic on his mind.

"I want you to really think about this, Sarada," Ino continues as she uncrosses her legs. "Because there's no going back if you sincerely want to call in quits and go home. If that's what you think is best for you and your family, then I can get you on a private plane within the next two hours, and I'll take care of everything else over here with the adults."

"You're not joking."

"Fuck no," she smiles pridefully. "So sweet cheeks, tell me your decision. Your way out is right here. Are you going to take it?"

There's no pressuring me. No right or wrong encouragement here or judgement from Ino for whatever I decide. If I leave now, I'll never see Sasuke again. I'll never see Naruto or Boruto again. I probably wouldn't even have time to say goodbye. I scrunch my fingers into my palms and furrow my brows, thinking hard.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Later that evening, around 5:30, Boruto lays lazily in bed - how he spends his time entirely alone in the mansion. Solitude in the mansion is nothing new to the boy. He's been left alone by the adults multiple times in the past, sometimes with maids and sometimes without. And he's never been too bored before.

However this particular afternoon seemed to drag on for ages. My absence was hitting him hard. He overheard Ino's voice downstairs earlier, and figured I went out with her for the afternoon.

Was this what it was going to be like if I got sent home?

Boruto didn't want to think about it.

His phone starts to ring from his bedside table, and he looks at it for a moment. No one ever really calls him, just texts normally. Grabbing it, he notices Inojin's name and answers curiously. "Hey what's up?"

"It's Sarada," Inojin says from the back of his limo, already on his way to his lessons. "I just saw her at my house with my mom."

Some relief washes over Boruto. "Thought so. Your mom just made a delivery to the mansion. Sarada probably just wanted to get out of the house-"

"I overheard her ask my mom if she could send her back home," Inojin interjects, cutting off Boruto. "Like her home-home."

Boruto pauses for a second, reminding himself to breathe. "What? W-Why didn't you say anything?"

"I had to leave for my stupid horseback riding lessons, and I won't be back home till late," Inojin frowns. "I don't know what's going on, but you have to stop her. Call or- or something."

Boruto looks at the somewhat crumpled 'thank you note' I left behind. It all starts to click in his head that maybe this stupid girl was planning this. Was this a run-away scheme? "Ino wouldn't really do that would she?"

"She kinda might," Inojin says worried. "Sarada's not responding to my texts. Can you call her?"

Boruto groans, sitting up in his bed. "Yeah stay on." Boruto puts his call on hold and rings for my number. He waits a few seconds and starts to hear a familiar ring tone somewhere out far. Down the hall - my ring tone. "You've got to be kidding me." He wastes no time rushing out of his room to mine - and opening the door he finds the cell phone Sasuke bought me resting perfectly on my desk. _I swear she left it behind on purpose, this idiot_. "Her phone's here at the mansion," Boruto reports back to Inojin. He can hear his friend groan on the other end.

"There has to be something-!"

"I don't think there's anything we can do," Boruto admits, walking solemnly to my desk. He sits on my chair, observing my cellphone with his free hand. "In the end we can't really force her to do anything really."

"You're not serious are you?"

"I am," Boruto laughs to himself, bitter sweetly. "A lot's happened recently. Sarada's been kind of off because of it. And, as much as I don't want her to go home - and trust me I've been trying everything," Boruto pauses, sighing. "If it's what she really wants to do and it'll make her happy, then we shouldn't stop her from leaving." Boruto gets up and slowly closes the door to my room, and he starts to make his way back to his room.

"She didn't even tell you. Doesn't that make you angry?" Inojin argues, somewhat agitated. "She didn't even say goodbye to us!"

"That's not our call, Inojin," Boruto frowns, accepting this turn of events quite calmly. Not to say he wasn't sad about it. Though, it did bother him that he may never see his friend again. Were those few hours ago really going to be the last he'd see of this girl? _Was she that unbearably unhappy with Sasuke that she'd be willing to just get up and go without saying goodbye?_

Boruto let's Inojin let everything out of his system, just listening to the rant while swaying between thoughts in his mind. When he returns to his bedroom however, he notices a window pinging from his laptop on his desk. It's an incoming video chat. "Inojin I've gotta go," Boruto says abruptly, cutting off his friend and hanging up.

Boruto pulls out his gamer chair and checks the caller ID. It's Iwabe, one of my friends from back in the states. _Why's he calling?_

Boruto accepts, and the window changes into a video chat with the guy. His face shows up in a somewhat okay definition. "Hey! About time," Iwabe teases, adjutsing his camera.

"Long time no see," Boruto greets politely, still a little shaken from his last call.

"Denki and Chou-Chou wanted me to check in with you guys and see how things were going," Iwabe greets positively. He must not know about the recent developments. "Sarada hasn't been emailing us lately and we figured things just got busy over there for you guys."

"You don't know the half of it," Boruto admits, running his hands tiredly over his face. Boruto takes the time to catch Iwabe up on what's been going on - mostly with our recent discovery of my parents' secret meet up in Japan before they had me, and the ending to all of it.

"Wow," Iwabe says at the end of the short explanation. "How's she holding up?"

"Not to well actually," Boruto frowns. "Now we're just waiting for my dad to come home. He's visiting Karin and those guys at the city jail for a 'talk'," he says with finger quotes.

Iwabe whistles. "That can't be good. You don't know yet either if he's going to send her home right?"

"I have no idea. I want to hope by some miracle she can stay, but at the rate she's going I don't know if she even wants to keep living here anymore."

"What makes you say that?"

"She's visiting my friend's mom Ino right now. Sakura and her were friends before," Boruto goes on. "My friend just told me that Sarada asked to go home. And knowing Ino, she'd have no trouble arranging a flight back to the states before tonight."

"What?" Iwabe stares. "You filthy rich bastards, you can do that? Wait wait, Sarada's heading home? Like now?"

"I wouldn't be surprised if she is," Boruto says calmly, almost accepting defeat at this point. Iwabe looks devastated on camera. Inojin probably looked the same way when he found out. "She didn't even say goodbye."

"Why the hell are you so calm?" Iwabe questions skeptically. "I figured you of all people would be pulling whatever strings you can to stop her."

"You'd think," he laughs lethargically. "I was pretty lonely until she moved into the mansion. I was a pretty shallow kid, too. Then Sarada comes out of no where and flips everyone's business upside down."

"I would've never suspected," Iwabe laughs. "To be honest, the Sarada I met in Japan is completely different from the one who left the states at the start of the summer."

"Really?"

"Fuck yeah," Iwabe agrees. "She was super shy, easily persuaded, pretty bottled up actually. And out of no where she's this temperamental, stubborn-head-strong person who's super open with her emotions. That's why I can't understand why she'd give up and go home like that. Hell even you look like you've given up."

"If it were up to me I'd do anything to make her stay," Boruto admits. "But this isn't about me. Sarada needs to be able to make her own decisions - like how she decided to come here. And if she's that unhappy that she wants to leave, then I can't stop her."

Iwabe looks like he wants to say something, but holds himself back. He was right. "You'll probably never see her again."

 _Like I don't already know that?_ Boruto glances to the side at my subtle goodbye note. "If she's happier leaving then who am I to keep her here?" The mansion's doorbell echoes throughout the walls. "That must be my mom and Sasuke. I should go."

"Sorry man," Iwabe says. "I know you liked her, too."

Boruto's red face scrunches up, and despite his instinct to deny it, he thought about it while pushing in his chair. "... I do like her," Boruto admits, kind of catching Iwabe off guard, though his friend looks satisfied.

In response Iwabe nods, and goes to shut down the video chat. "I'll talk to you later, bro."

"Later." Boruto closes his laptop and takes his time going down to meet the adults. _I like Sarada_. Boruto's sort of known he's had feelings before, but with me gone it's completely solidified for him. Even if it is too late.

He comes around the top of the staircase heading down. "Welcome home Mom-..." Boruto stops in his tracks, seeing Ino holding the door open for me. I walk in timidly smiling, with a maid there to take my sweater. Boruto just stares down in disbelief, and realizes just how heavy his heart is.

"Thanks Corina," Ino grins at the maid for opening the door. She looks down to me with a wink. "I'll let you go then."

"Thank you, Ino," I smile gratefully.

Ino nods and notices Boruto coming down the stairs awkwardly. "Good luck." With one last flash of a smile the woman closes the door behind her while the maid leaves to hang my sweater - Boruto and I alone once again.

 _Why does he look like he's seen a ghost?_ "Um, hey," I grin, trying to ease him. "Sorry I left without saying anything. Did you enjoy having the place to yourself for once, haha?"

Boruto walks up to me and before he can say anything, he suddenly and forwardly throws his arms around me in a tight hug. His face looked so sad, and serious. His hug almost knocks me back but I keep my balance up. "Inojin called me - he overheard you and Ino at his place," Boruto mutters, almost as if he spoke any louder his voice would crack. "I thought you went home."

 _So Inojin was there._ I sigh guiltily, hugging Boruto back. I didn't think it'd affect him this much. "I almost did," I admit, just as quiet as him. "But, I wouldn't have gotten to see you and the guys one last time. As hard as it'll be to be around Sasuke, I couldn't leave you guys hanging like that." I hug him tighter to assure him. "You especially apparently. Look at you you're about to cry."

"No I'm not," Boruto denies, suddenly shoving me out of the hug he initiated. He rugs his eyes and nose really fast and cool. _Aw Boruto_.

I laugh, a little touched he'd be so sad about my going away. "Don't get me wrong, I'm still iffy about being here with my dad. Naruto and Karin may even end up sending me home anyway. But... I didn't want to leave without saying goodbye to you at least." Boruto looks back at me, eyes still glossy. I made sure to say that slowly, so I wouldn't mess up and start crying too. "I'm sorry."

Boruto stares me down for a moment before regaining his composure. "Sarada I-" He suddenly stops, looking just as conflicted as he's been for the past two minutes.

But I wait patiently, with as gentle an expression as possible. "Yeah?"

"I-I..." _I like you_. "I'm... really happy you came back."

A small grin makes it's way to my face. Boruto's reaction definitely was worth coming back to the mansion to. I knew he cared, but not this much. Just because I know his pride won't let him, I step up and give him one more assuring hug. "Come on, let's go make dinner. I'll show you how to make Karin's pasta."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Right now it's after dinner - which Boruto and I both got to prepare together. It was really nice - having the mansion to ourselves and cooking for just us. The maids stayed in the background, giving us our space. Normally nights like this are pretty lonely, but there was something different about tonight. I was a little happier after today's events surprisingly, and after thinking I'd had my last hours here in the mansion, I'm pretty relieved to be here with him.

By now, after I've taken my bath and brushed my teeth Boruto and I were chilling in the ballroom on the steps, on video chat with the guys waiting for the adults to come home. Boruto insisted on catching the guys up on everything - especially for Inojin.

Boruto's laptop is on the stairs with separate screen windows for Inojin, Shikadai and Mitsuki. We're seated on the stairs, beside it with a half finished bowl of potato chips. We've spent the past half hour catching them up on, well, everything. Himawari's visit, the yearbook snooping, the talk with Shikadai's uncle, and my Charlie's Angels babysitters from hell, as Boruto calls them.

"And now here we are," I shrug, finishing our long and tiring story.

"My head hurts," Shikadai frowns, scratching his head.

"There's so many things you guys found out though," Mitsuki praises. What an underwhelming reaction Mitsuki.

"Yeah and like a bunch of things that don't make sense together," Boruto scoffs, annoyed with having to explain this whole story in such detail. All the interruptions in between the story didn't help either.

"So Naruto's been out since this morning?" Shikadai frowns. Boruto and I nod together. "That's a long time."

"No shit," Boruto crosses his arms. "We still don't know what his decision will be."

"We've just been waiting all this time," I frown. "When it comes down to it, whatever becomes of me is really Naruto's decision, regardless of what I want."

"Which sucks," Boruto comments.

"I'm still mad that you'd even think about giving up and going home," Inojin accuses of me. He'd been unusually quiet this whole conversation until now.

"What?" Mitsuki overhears.

"Inojin lay off," Boruto frowns, knowing what's coming.

"No," Inojin argues, uncharacteristically fired up. Boruto and I had kept out the details of my visit with Ino. "I overheard you talking with my mom earlier. If your babysitters and Naruto weren't going to send you home you were about to ask my Mom to do it instead."

My shoulders slug a little, feeling bad for upsetting him. "I'm sorry you heard all that, Inojin."

"After all the crap we put up with after your friends visited?" Shikadai mutters confused.

"I didn't decide yet, Inojin," I try to control. "And I'm here now, aren't I?"

"But you're still thinking about it," Mitsuki calmly rewords. Does he sound actually sad?

"Sarada that's insane. What the hell do you have to gain from just going home?" Shikadai says.

"I can't ignore what your uncle told me, Shikadai," I say apologetically, and as maturely as I can. "My mom came home feeling abandoned. _I_ was abandoned. I'm sorry if I can't just forget about what Sasuke did to her and act like everything's fine."

"Look guys I already talked about this with her. And you," Boruto glares at Inojin, for starting this whole thing up. "It's Sarada's decision. Beyond my dad, whatever she decides to do we can't hold her back."

"I still don't think it's right for you to just go home," Inojin inputs, stubbornly upset.

"Please don't go, Sarada," Mitsuki says with a flat face. He's almost always smiling, so seeing him not smile was a little impactful. "It'd be a shame if we couldn't see how this would all turn out."

"Guys guys relax," I assure, a little amused by how serious they're taking my possible leaving. They sound so urgent. "I haven't done anything yet."

"Yeah so don't," Shikadai pouts, making me laugh once more. Even he looks troubled.

Boruto smiles on his side, glad to hear me laughing again. "I promise, there's more to this Sasuke thing than we know so far," Boruto reassures from beside me. "Don't be so down. Even if you don't think things will work out, the guys and I will still always be behind you."

I try to hide the blush forming on my face with a confident tease back. "So sappy," I say, shoving his arm.

"Just saying," Boruto shrugs, not seeming to care if I take him seriously or not.

" _I'm home!_ " Naruto's voice blares from outside. Oh my god.

"Shit I didn't hear him drive in," Boruto curses, cutting off the guys rushing questions and shutting his laptop. He sits up with me just in time for Naruto to unlock the front door. Once again Boruto and I are silent, sitting on the stairs like little kids caught stealing from the cookie jar. I hate how submissive we feel as kids in this situation.

"Alright alright enough with the silent treatment, relax," Naruto complains. "You're fine. I made an agreement with them. They fly out in two days and I haven't relinquished custody yet."

Keyword yet. "So, what did you do?" Boruto asks on our behalf. Thank god I'm sitting, my knees are so wobbly.

"I bailed them out, got them a place to stay," Naruto confides, closing the door behind him. Really? "We came to an agreement - they leave us alone for two days and I come back to them with a decision on what to do with you," he says to me.

I can't believe Karin agreed to something like that. I imagine she'd put up more of a fight. Maybe resort to Naruto using a restraining order eventually. "So..." Boruto starts, "Why?"

"We need to trust each other," Naruto starts, walking closer over to us by the steps. He remains standing. "And that starts with everyone telling the truth starting now. Sasuke comes home soon, so the only time we get to talk is now."

I bite my lip. Does that mean he's willing to hide all this for now from Sasuke? I'm also not exactly sure how much Naruto knows. "So what _do_ you know?" I speak up cautiously, I think surprising Boruto that I'd talk at all. "What did Karin and the others tell you?"

"That they supposedly work for your mom? That they babysit you and came looking for you?" Naruto tries to summarize, sounding like he's still having a hard time believing it all. "That-... I'm sorry. You know what? Never mind." He shakes his head, passing between us and heading up the stairs. "It's crazy. Impossible. They're just frauds. If you trusted them you would've said so from the beginning."

"What's crazy?" I repeats, calling back up to him.

He continues walking up. "Nothing. Forget about it. I've had a long flight and no sleep and I just want to go to bed. Besides it's impossible for you to be related to Sasuke. He doesn't have any extended family, and his brother doesn't have any kids. It'd be even crazier to believe you were-"

"Sasuke's daughter?" I cut off, clear and enunciated.

Naruto stair climb slows to a stop. He turns around slowly, and sees me standing on the step I was previously sitting on, Boruto's eyes wide in shock at my confession.

But my face remains serious, confident, for the first time in a long time. "I _am_ Sasuke's daughter," I repeat, almost for myself.

By the look in Naruto's eyes and slightly open mouth, shock and disbelief is an understatement. As it sinks in, Boruto meanwhile sinks his head into his hands behind me. This totally wasn't his plan either.

* * *

 **AHHHH. THE TRUTH. IT'S HAPPENING.**

 **Haha, hi guys! Hope everyone's having a good summer! It's been a while since I've updated - I just got back from vacation and went head straight into work, but I've got a ton of stuff ready for this story, so expect another update within a week or so!**

 **Thanks again for all of your support so far for this story! I love hearing your reactions and what you guys like and want to know and see! Thanks for reading!**

 **PREVIEW:**

 _ **"How was the house while we were gone? Do anything interesting?"**_

 _ **"Not really," I lie, my back turned in bed. "Sasuke, I'm kind of tired and I don't really feel like talking right now. Do you mind if I just sleep?"**_

 _ **"No of course, get some rest. I just wanted to check in on you." Reluctantly Sasuke gets up and turns off the lights for me. "Good night."**_

 _ **"Good night," I manage it before he can close the door. 'I'm sorry, Sasuke.'**_

 _ **x-x-x-x-x**_

 _ **I roll my eyes. "What are you guys doing here?"**_

 _ **"Mitsuki here did some computer magic and managed to bypass Flashgram's main database firewall," Inojin brags. Wait. What? "He was able to hack into your mom's old account, so we can see anything she ever posted or archived or deleted."**_

 _ **I can see Boruto and Shikadai trying not to laugh at my speechless reaction. What did he just say? I look at Mitsuki to see if Inojin's playing me, but Mitsuki's ever-present smile says it's the truth. "Mitsuki where did you learn how to do all that?" I ask.**_

 _ **"My dad taught me." Mitsuki what the hell.**_

 _ **x-x-x-x-x**_

 _ **"The kids came clean to me yesterday. But no, she hasn't told Sasuke. I believe she has her reasons though," Naruto frowns.**_

 _ **"She's a child! She shouldn't have reasons for any of this!" Karin argues protectively. "I'm taking her home and that's final!"**_

 _ **"And I won't stop you!" Naruto argues just as loud. "Just please, if I can persuade you to let her stay, it'll be good for her!"**_

 _ **"What do you know!" Karin states. "Her mother kept this from her for a reason! I may not know why but Sarada's too young to be emotionally prepared to handle the reality that her father doesn't know who she is! That he may reject her when she comes clean with the truth! Of course she hasn't told Sasuke she's his daughter - he'd never look at her the same again!"**_

 _ **"But Sarada-"**_

 _ **"Needs to come home before she gets hurt," Karin says firmly.**_


	18. Don't Take me Home Pt3

**Chapter 18: Don't Take Me Home Pt.3**

 _ **Sarada's on the run when she discovers her** **babysitters, Karin, Suigetsu and Jugo, are in Japan looking for her. Afraid they'll take her back home, Boruto helps her stay hidden. However Sarada ends up meeting another old friend of her mother's, and discovers perception-changing information about Sasuke.**_

* * *

"What's crazy?" I repeat up to Naruto on the steps.

"Nothing. Forget about it. I've had a long flight and no sleep and I just want to go to bed. Besides it's impossible for you to be related to Sasuke. He doesn't have any extended family, and his brother doesn't have any kids. It'd be even crazier to believe you were-"

"Sasuke's daughter?" I cut off, clear and enunciated.

Naruto stair climb slows to a stop, and e turns around slowly, Boruto's eyes wide in shock at my confession. "I _am_ Sasuke's daughter," I repeat, almost for myself.

Just in time in the middle of our revelation-stand off, the front doors unlock again and Sasuke arrives from the airport. I bite my lip. "Hey you're all here," Sasuke spies as Hinata comes in behind him. A maid is with them carrying Sasuke's luggage and bag in past Sasuke. He spots Naruto standing a few steps above us, just staring down at me in the same shock he wore at my confession. Sasuke's entrance doesn't seem to have phased him. "Naruto why are you looking at her like that?" Sasuke asks.

"N-No reason," Naruto snaps out of it, walking back down. I bite my lip again, hoping that he'll keep quiet. I can't tell what he's doing to do, but the closer Naruto comes down, I just see this happiness he's trying to hold back. "I just realized how amazing she is - come here," and he wraps his arms around me in the most wholesome hug I've ever had. I hide a small happy and relieved grin in his shoulder and hug him back, just as tight. "Oh my god she's wonderful!" he laughs, almost tearfully.

Sasuke and Hinata look on albeit confused while Boruto tries to hide his exasperated smile.

Once Naruto realizes it looks a little strange, Naruto lets me go and ruffles Boruto's hair on his way down.

It appears he's making a round turn to his and Sasuke's office, but to shield his rather weird and emotional actions he also waltzes up to an (unprepared) Sasuke and sobs emotionally hugging his best friend. Unlike most men Sasuke doesn't return the hug and keeps his arms floating as he waits for Naruto to pass on - clearly not happening soon enough. Boruto and I try not to laugh at Sasuke's horrified, confused and disgusted expression.

"I love you man!" Naruto says, before letting go finally, straightening out Sasuke's shirt and walking along his way.

Sasuke brushes his shirt again with one more questionable glance at Naruto's back and shakes his head. "Hinata would you mind getting the rest of my bags in the car? I need to have a talk with the kids."

"Of course," Hinata smiles, taking one more amused or worried look down Naruto's way before heading out.

"Welcome back!" I say convincingly. Part of me is definitely happy to see Sasuke again, but it does feel a little different now. "How was your trip?"

"Long, boring," Sasuke admits, rubbing his neck. Boruto stands up too as Sasuke comes up to us. "But I did want to talk to you guys about something. We're under a deal with a sister company, the Hanazawa Group. Their head family will be flying into Japan for a big summit meeting, and we'll be hosting them during their stay in the country some time next week."

"That's that's pretty neat," Boruto comments. Though the look on Sasuke's face says he'd rather not - though he has to.

"The mansion will be hosting a ball the night before the summit meeting. It's going to be a big drag to set up people wise, so Boruto ask your friends and their parents to come. Only the richest of Tokyo blue bloods are going to be on the list."

"Joy," Boruto smiles sarcastically.

Sasuke chuckles and looks to me. "And you, ready to put everything you've learned the past few weeks into play?"

"I'll be the perfect charity case," I mockingly now, earning another small laugh from Sasuke.

"Can always count on you," Sasuke says, ruffling my hair. "You alright by the way? You look kind of pale. Hinata mentioned on the ride over here that you weren't feeling well while I was gone."

"I'm fine don't worry," I assure with a smile. "We had dinner already also but there's some left overs in the kitchen if you want any."

"Sarada made pasta," Boruto mentions, making me blush.

"I'll be sure to have the maids send some to me in my room then," Sasuke bids. "Don't stay up too late guys."

"Good night," we say together as Sasuke goes upstairs. A huge weight of relief washes over me as Sasuke disappears up the stairs. I hope I didn't sound too unusually perky talking to him.

Boruto comes up to me once he's out of earshot. "You did good."

I exhale, leaning against the marble banister. "Thanks. I am happy Sasuke's back honest, but it feels a little weird now."

"Well I'm intent on proving Sasuke's moral justice," Boruto says boldly. "I'm gonna go find my dad and straighten some things out with him before I go to bed. Wanna come?"

"I think I'll pass. I've had a long day," I admit.

Boruto nods, understanding. "Do I have your permission to tell my dad the truth? Like, everything?" he asks. "I think we can trust him, and we need to convince him not to let your babysitters take you away."

"Say whatever you want. It's out of my hands now."

"Hey care a little. I'm trying to save your ass."

"Just saying, whatever happens happens," I say, heading up without him. "Night."

"It's only 8 o'clock!"

"Night!" I ignore.

"Night," Boruto mutters, a little upset at my carefree attitude about this sensitive time. Especially after a huge confession to his dad. And wasting none of that precious time, Boruto runs off to our dads' office.

Meanwhile Naruto is in said office, cross referencing everything he's ever known about his best friend. _A freaking kid_. He couldn't believe it. An emailed report comes in on his phone while he's researching on the office computer. A government authentication stating that the birth certificate was official. "This is insane... but it's a legitimate birth certificate. Why doesn't Sasuke have his name on it?"

"Because he doesn't know?" Boruto speaks up, coming into the office and startling his dad.

"For gods sakes close the door!" Naruto panics, almost hiding his paperwork. Boruto locks it for safe measure, and Naruto relaxes. "Where's Sarada?"

"Went to bed. She's tired," Boruto reports. "I came here to talk. Can we talk?" Naruto sighs and offers his arm out to the chair in front of the desk he sits at. His son sits. "You can't give Sarada to her babysitters."

"So they are," Naruto scoffs, holding his temples. "And what do you mean I can't, I have to now. It's their right."

"You cant let them take her," Boruto repeats, sternly. "She still wants to be around her dad and figure some things out. We're not exactly sure what the right thing to do is, but sending her home now isn't the answer."

"Boruto this isn't about right or wrong right now. This is about _real guardianship_. We could be be technically kidnappers if those guys pull that card. In fact that crazy one already did," Naruto ponders.

"Can't you just listen to me!?" Boruto argues, before breathing and trying to keep his cool. A temper wasn't going to get him anywhere. "I'll tell you everything if it can convince you."

Naruto sits with his hands folded, thoughtfully. "Fine."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

The fancy clock hanging on the wall ticks another minute ahead. Boruto was right. It was pretty early to go to bed, but I wanted some alone time to just reset myself. Yesterday and today together is just a bit too much right now. Despite the outing with Ino and the pep talk from the guys into talking me into staying - and most likely I want to - I can't help but feel a little homesick. I'm in bed staring at the photo of Mom from my wallet-sized photo book.

I miss her a lot. I can only assume she doesn't know where I am. It'd be her dragging me home instead of Karin and the others. With a vengeance no doubt.

But my head still feels a sense of betrayal at how she must have felt, flying away from her visit with Sasuke all those years ago, with nothing but a baby and a broken heart.

A broken heart... I can't imagine my mother with one. All these years of a strong upfront suddenly makes sense. All these years of never dating make sense. I thought it was maybe because she still had some feelings for my father. Instead it was probably from never wanting to feel whatever way she felt again.

Knowing that makes me feel terrible.

The man who broke my mother, living under this roof.

Being so admirable, and cool, and close.

Also being somebody I can't look at the same anymore.

' _What do I do?'_

There's a knock on my door and I ignore it, hoping whoever is there will walk away. "Sarada?" Sasuke's voice calls. He comes in, but I stay laying down on my side with my back to him and the door. I can't bring myself to turn over. Facing earlier took a lot more than I thought it would. I don't know if I can do it again today. "You're already in bed?"

"I had a long day."

I hear him walk closer and sit down on the side of my bed. I clutch my photo book in my hands under my pillow. "I got you your souvenir. Naruto forgot it on his way back," he says. "It's a stationary set. We thought it'd be something you'd like."

He knows I like writing letters. "Thanks. You can put it on the lamp table," I say quietly.

Sasuke does so, finding it a little strange that I won't get up. "You want me to send up soup or tea or anything?"

"I'm fine."

".. How was the house while we were gone? Do anything interesting?"

"Not really," I lie. "Sasuke, I'm kind of tired and I don't really feel like talking right now. Do you mind if I just sleep?"

"No of course, get some rest. I just wanted to check in on you." Reluctantly Sasuke gets up and turns off the lights for me. "Good night."

"Good night," I manage it before he can close the door. I shut my eyes, as if I can keep the guilt in by doing so. I hate that I love him, and that I'm emotionally afraid to hate him too. Part of me also feels like I hurt his feelings (as hard as that is to believe) ignoring him like this. I want to hope I didn't. ' _I'm sorry, Sasuke.'_

Meanwhile on the other side of my room out in the hall, Sasuke exits and quietly shuts my door with the least amount of noise. Hinata is outside waiting, impressed by his new effort to close the door without clicking it. "That was unusually thoughtful of you."

"You sure she's alright?" Sasuke asks, not even denying the teasing jab by the woman.

"Give her space. She'll come around. She's been off since yesterday and I'm sure she'll be back to normal soon. There's nothing really you or I or anyone can do."

"Sounds like experience."

"I'm raising a teenage boy. They're on autopilot more than you know," Hinata assures, walking a semi-worried Sasuke down the hall in her comforting company.

X-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"And, after talking with Shikadai's uncle, now she thinks Sasuke wanted nothing to do with her or her mom," Boruto catches up in his seat. "She's pretty shaken up."

Naruto sits skeptically at Sasuke's desk, tapping his pen while trying to remain composed with taking in Boruto's crazy roller coaster story. He's half baffled, half an emotional wreck (hence the tissue box and multiple tissues littered all over the desk), and half angry that literally _no_ adult in the Uchiha Mansion caught onto any of this.

And after years of immaturity and pranks, this is the most serious Naruto's ever seen his son before.

"S-So..?" Boruto asks nervously.

Naruto sits up straight and rubs his face in his hands before interlacing them together, thinking hard and trying to ignore a headache coming on. "Sasuke may be an asshole, but if he ever got a girl pregnant I don't think he'd ever abandon them like that."

"You really think so?"

"Hell yeah," Naruto argues, leaning back in Sasuke's leather chair. "I mean all the magazines talk about how much of a player he is but you and I know Sasuke hasn't talked to a woman in like, ever! He's practically socially impaired when it comes to women. I don't think he'd even know how to leave one if he knocked one up."

"S-So you think Sarada should stay."

Naruto hesitates, keeping eye contact with Boruto. There's the right adult thing to do, then there's the _right-_ right thing to do; and Naruto doesn't quite know where on the spectrum he should be. "I didn't say that."

"Come on, Dad, give me a break! I wouldn't be fighting for this so hard if I didn't think it was the right thing to do!" Boruto argues before calming himself down. He sighs. "Are you going to tell Sasuke on us?"

Naruto's yes crack wide open. "I haven't even thought of that," he realizes, horrified. The man groans and runs his hands through his hair. Stress has officially reached max levels. "I won't tell him, not until I think some things through." Naruto's sits back up, taking a deep breath. "I need some time alone. Don't bother me for the rest of the night. I have some work and decisions to make."

"Fine." Boruto sits up and excuses himself, hoping he at least plead a good case since I totally wasn't going to. Boruto is about to close the door for his dad, and looking back seeing him look between papers and a computer screen, Boruto decides to speak up last minute. "Can I say one more thing?"

"What is it."

 _Is he even going to look up at me?_ Boruto clenches his fist. "At least as your son," Boruto starts, a little hopelessly at this point, "trust me when I say Sarada should stay till the end of all this. It really is the right thing to do." _Well, I guess that was my best shot._ "Good night, Dad."

With that he shuts the two office doors, and Naruto momentarily pauses from everything he's doing. On one hand he's proud to have a son who's grown up enough to tell his own dad right from wrong. On the other, he's completely pressed for what to do about the situation.

Boruto trudges back to the upstairs floor where our rooms are. That talk with Naruto took a lot longer than he thought. "Sarada might be asleep by now." Against his better judgement he checks in on my room anyway. The lights are out, and I'm in bed over my covers with my back turned, still in my day clothes.

"Hey, it's me," Boruto says loudly enough to be heard, but not too loud to wake me in case I was asleep. He comes in quietly and leaves door open just a bit for some light to come in. He sits on my bed and almost reaches out to wake me, but decides against it and returns his hands to his lap. "I don't know if you're still awake, but I talked with my dad... He's willing to keep our secret from Sasuke until he makes a decision about your babysitters by tomorrow."

There's a short pause in his speech.

"I... know you said you wouldn't mind just going back home to the States if it comes to...but, I think deep down you really do want to stay here. With us... Honestly?... I was really scared when you were over at Ino's. I _did_ get your note earlier. And when Inojin called me up after he overheard you and Ino talking, I was terrified," Boruto admits, his voice cracking a little, but there's still no response from the girl beside him. "I'm really glad you're here now though. And I tried my best to persuade my dad into letting you stay. I don't know if I did a good enough job though so... I'm sorry if I messed up or anything. I really did try."

Still no response.

Boruto sighs in the dark, hanging his head. "I'll let you sleep. Good night Sarada."

In all actuality, I was awake for everything he said. I wait until he leaves and shuts the door, with the same careful quietness Sasuke had. When the small strip of light from the hall way disappears, I let out the breath I was holding in.

So tomorrow's the day we find out if I get shipped home or not. The worst part of it all, is that I don't even know which outcome I'm rooting for anymore.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

The next morning started up any normally as any other Monday. The adults have their work schedules and our alternate breakfast routines and whatnot. I got up a little closer to noon today though, after eventually falling asleep at like, 2am. I think Boruto or one of the grownups knocked on my door this morning, but I was too zonked out to give it a second thought.

I brush my hair and put my glasses on in the bathroom, mentally reminding myself that by tonight I'll know if I'm staying in Japan or going home. This should feel like some big important day, but my moodiness makes me feel very nonchalant about today.

Hopefully Sasuke's already out at work though. I'd rather avoid the emotional stress of seeing him, as horrible as it feels to think.

On my way down, I pass by some maids and worker-men with clipboards and tapes and such all over the mansion. They must be planning for that ball Sasuke was talking about yesterday.

When I get to the kitchen, I'm taken aback by all the familiar faces sitting around the head of the table. Boruto, Shikadai, Mitsuki And Inojin are all here - and they all see me come in. How I wish wasn't just wearing my pajamas. "Looks who's awake," Inojin greets, seemingly feeling better compared to yesterday.

"Nice pjs," Shikadai teases with a small scoff.

I roll my eyes. "What are you guys doing here?" I ask, coming to the table.

Boruto's sitting at the head seat with a laptop and all the guys surround him. "My mom's out running errands and my dad and Sasuke locked themselves in the office for work all day." So Sasuke's working in the mansion today.

"Boruto knew you were feeling down wanted to cheer you up, so thought we could do some snooping online about your parents," Mitsuki reveals, resulting in an embarrassed Boruto panicking and trying to cover his friend's mouth.

"Snooping?"

"Remember what you told me about your mom?" Boruto reminds, letting go of Mitsuki. "About that blank period during your conception date where she didn't post anything on social media?"

"Yeah," I say with some confusion.

"Mitsuki here did some computer magic and managed to bypass Flashgram's main database firewall," Inojin brags, totally waking me up. Wait. What? "He was able to hack into your mom's old account, so we can see anything she ever posted or archived or deleted."

I can see Boruto and Shikadai trying not to laugh at my speechless reaction. What did he just say? I look at Mitsuki to see if Inojin's playing me, but Mitsuki's ever-present smile says it's the truth. "Mitsuki where did you learn how to do all that?" I ask.

He just smiles again. "My dad taught me." Mitsuki what the hell.

"Alright I think we found her archives," Boruto says excitedly, passing the laptop to Mitsuki to type some things in.

"I'll get the snacks," Inojin offers while Shikadai moves over for me to see the screen. I guess this is the closest the guys will get to ever spying on a girl... even if it is my mom. That feels kind of weird to say.

"So uh, what exactly does Mitsuki's dad do?" I whisper to Shikadai.

"We don't really know," a Shikadai says slowly and unsure. Ah. "All we remember is that his dad isn't a CEO, but he's just as rich as our families. Some of us think it might be illegal stuff he does."

"Which we don't particularly care too much about," Inojin buts in, winking at me as he passes some chips and cookies he raided from our snack cupboards.

"This is pretty neat. It feels like a real spy mission," Mitsuki voices.

"I knew your hacking powers would come in handy one day," Boruto grins mischievously and proudly. "Let's get this show on the road!"

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Meanwhile within the mansion office, Sasuke and Naruto are hard at work while also making preparations for the Ball. Naruto's currently on the phone, pacing around in front of Sasuke's desk.

"Yes that's the date... We can write you a check the day of sure. Or direct deposit, whichever's easier for you... Sweet... Say do you guys have that really cool looking harp with the fire encrusted with gold around it-?" Naruto notices Sasuke's irritated face from his seat. "And it was a pleasure doing business with you thank you."

Naruto hangs up quickly and Sasuke shakes his head. "You're insane."

"Hey I booked the musicians for the ball alright?" Naruto says. "All I need to book today are the stylists."

"Good." Sasuke signs off on some more documents, not too personally invested in the planning of this grand Ball he'll be hosting.

"You know..." Naruto starts awkwardly, still holding the cordless phone in his hands, "With this being such a grand and official party, have you ever thought, you know.." Naruto drags on, "about bringing a date?-"

"Stop talking."

Naruto frowns and glares. What an immediate shut down. "Sasuke come on it's just us. We're getting old. My kid's practically a teen now. Even during college I've never seen you with anyone serious before."

"Already tried dating. I don't need to do it again," he says straightforwardly, keeping his eyes on his desk work.

"Oh _really_?" Naruto says oh so conspicuously. "I've never seen you date in college."

"I had a girlfriend in high school," Sasuke admits, and everything is going according to Naruto's verbal plan. "But that was pretty much it."

"Oh _REALLY_ ," Naruto says once more, a little too suddenly close to Sasuke's side. Rather annoyingly close for the Uchiha. _This has gotta be Sarada's mom. Maybe I can get this dobe to talk more about her._ "Why didn't you say so earlier!? Maybe we can go find her! Bring her out here and bring her as your date to the Ball! You two can unwind, catch up, reignite some old sparks-!"

"That won't be possible," Sasuke cuts off flatly, shoving Naruto's too-close face away from him.

Naruto falls to the floor in front of Sasuke's wooden desk, but gets back up fast enough. "Why the fuck not? It could be-"

"She passed away years ago," Sasuke continues, in his same busy and casual voice. Naruto finally stops, replaying what he just heard. There's no visible remorse in Sasuke's eyes or tone of voice, but his lack of eye contact and focus on his work says enough to the blonde.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"For Christ's sake you can hack one of the biggest social media's platforms in the world but you can't fix the Internet connection?" Boruto complains to an aloof Mitsuki, who shrugs innocently.

"Everyone shut up I'm trying to focus!" Shikadai lectures, trying to rework some wires behind Boruto's TV set up.

"Someone reload the page and see if it's working," Mitsuki requests.

"Boruto what's your new WiFi password?" Inojin calls.

"Dude I already entered it into the computer," Shikadai says from behind Boruto's TV.

"Nah this is for my phone I need to collect my free gold in my game."

"Gimmie that!" Boruto lectures, swiping Inojins phone-distraction out of his hand.

We've migrated back up to Boruto's bedroom. At some point while we were in the kitchen we lost Internet, in the most crucial moment before my Mom's old photos could load on screen. There's a router in Boruto's room for some reason, so Shikadai being the only one capable enough to figure out what went wrong, is on it while the rest of the guys try to 'help'.

I know I wouldn't be any use in this department so I've been sitting on the beanbag chair with the laptop, refreshing the site whenever Shikadai said to. "Alright, we should be good now," Shikadai stands back up.

"We're online," Boruto checks over my shoulder with a thumbs up. We all gather together around the laptop and try this again. I hand the computer over to Boruto, since I'm too nervous to scroll myself when Flashgram attempts to refresh once more.

"This is kind of creepy don't you think?" Mitsuki comments.

"Now you say it?" Inojin says.

"And you shouldn't be talking," Shikadai frowns to the pale teen.

"Guys come on," Boruto reels back in, reloading the Flashgram page with my moms account.

It turned out there were some encrypted files that Mitsuki was talking about earlier before the Internet went out. They weren't just taken down by my mom. It's like the site blocked those pictures from ever being reposted or used again, and hidden with an encryption. Mitsuki did say though that whatever goes on the Internet stays on the Internet forever - lucky for us in this case.

Looking through the dozens of pictures my mom posted, and apparently erased, she must've been a heavy social media user. She took a lot of selfies apparently, and I can see why she took some down.

"Your mom's really hot, Sarada," Boruto finally comments, earning him an accusing look from me. "What it's a fact. I'm not blind."

"There's Sasuke," Mitsuki points.

"Oh my god look at his hair!" Inojin laughs. Most of the pictures here in the archive are couple-ones with Sasuke in it. Them on dates, their food, holding hands, smiling. All during high school. Despite my confusing feelings about Sasuke, I can't help but smile at this.

"This is beautiful and gross all at the same time," Shikadai says in awe, Boruto nodding. It must be hard for them to see Sasuke in this light, even as a teen.

"There's them as adults," I point. We've scrolled down enough to pass the erased high school posts, and I see more mature looking couple photos of them together in their would be post-college days. My mom's once tomboyish clothes have faded into this elegant yet young look, while Sasuke just looks less stressed and more approachable overall in his youth. Together they look really happy together in these pictures. And the posts' captions that went with them were simple and pleasant, as opposed to sarcastic and vague like in their high school ones.

I look at the dates too. All these adult-posts are from that missing October span. All of them. Some of them hint to my mom flying out and taking a trip. Reuniting with her old love. Things like 'Together Again' and 'Its been too long'. They're all fairly consistent and daily, all equally happy with no signs of relationship-failure. I know social media posts only show so much, but the end of the archive arrives too soon. My mom's last erased post was of them on a date eating sushi. Nothing really revelational.

"So they were taken down," Boruto realizes.

"I wonder what must've happened to end it all," I say out loud, kind of sad. When my mom got pregnant, did my dad get mad at her? Was it my fault their relationship fell apart? That thought of that creates a hollow pit in my stomach.

"Wait zoom in on that post," Shikadai points for Boruto. There's no image, just Flashgrams locked symbol, meaning it's blocked from being seen. "Mitsuki?"

"On it." Boruto passes Mitsuki his laptop and he types a couple things in. "And... here."

"What is it?"

"it's, not a post," Mitsuki's says, sounding stumped. "It's an encrypted link." Mitsuki wastes no time in clicking the secret link. It opens a new incognito window, showing an article and image.

"I think it's a tabloid," I squint behind my glasses. "Can you make it a sharper image by any chance?"

"I can do that," Mitsuki nods. He opens a photo editing program and screenshots the tabloid post, putting it into the program. After a few tricks of grain and light and sharpening, the image and text on the tabloid become clearer and more colorful. It's a paparazzi shot of Sasuke ring shopping in a jewelry store, 'undercover' in shades and a hoodie.

"Oh wow," Boruto sees.

"Sasuke Uchiha buying a ring," Inojin stares too. "Now that's an image."

Sasuke... was buying a ring? For my mom? "Oh my god," I almost laugh in disbelief, and happiness. I feel so much for them. They must have been so happy.

"It says here that this tabloid was pulled from the press by the Uchiha Company," Mitsuki reads for us. "All physical and digital copies were destroyed, and I guess the only remnant is this one here by the press company. Probably as a secret back up they hoped no one would be able to find and delete. Something like this could come in handy one day in the future."

"Thank god," a Shikadai scoffs.

"There's no way he bought it," I deny. "I-It's Sasuke. And he left my mom. Why would he actually buy a ring? He probably was just there for some other reason."

"You know..," Boruto ponders in our closely huddled group. "I do remember that ring he's holding there," he points at the screen, with the blurry image of Sasuke holding the tiny thing. Mitsuki zooms in on it. "I think I saw it in his bedroom one day when I was snooping as a kid."

"You snooped though a lot of Sasuke's stuff," I realize.

"Hey all things Sasuke were off limits. Of course a kid like me is going to check it all out at least once," Boruto defends with this slick smile. "But I really do think I saw a ring like that in one of his storage things in his bedroom. it's just like the one he's holding in the tabloid cover."

 _"_ No it's not," I scoff.

"You don't believe me?"

"I don't trust your judgement. What you saw was probably just a family heirloom or something."

"Nuh-uh it was that one right there. I'll prove it."

"And how are you gonna do that."

X-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"This is a terrible idea, on all counts," Shikadai says uneasily, slowly closing Sasuke's bedroom door.

"If you're gonna wuss out then just stand guard and watch the door for Sasuke or my dad. Besides, Sasuke never goes to his room during the day," Boruto says. While Inojin and Mitsuki start investigating, I more or less just... look around. During the duration of my entire stay so far, I've never gone into a Sasuke's bedroom before, let alone seen it. Sasuke's door is always closed whether he's in it or not, so I never even get to see into it when passing down the hall.

I'm surprised he leaves it unlocked.

"What exactly were we looking for?" Mitsuki asks.

Boruto looks into the sliding closet. "I dunno dude, a ring box?"

"This man keeps nothing of sentimental value," Inojin comments, shutting a dresser door.

Inojin was right. There are no photos on the wall, and barely any trinkets and such laying around. Much like his office downstairs. Lots of... practical things, if anything. Clocks, watches, self grooming things. Notebooks and pens. In a way I'm kind of sad I can't find any remnants of my mother. Perhaps not in his office but at least in the privacy of his room I thought I would. Not even a photo or a girly gift left behind by my mom.

"I can't find it, Boruto," Inojin complains. "Don't you remember anything else about the ring you found."

"Not really," Boruto says from the surprisingly packed closet. Tons of suits and button downs and shoes.

"Guys I think he's coming," Shikadai listens against the door. "So much for never coming up during the day, huh?"

"You've gotta be kidding me," Boruto glares, shutting the closet quickly.

"If Sasuke finds us in here we're never going to be allowed back over," Inojin warns.

"Oh that's your biggest problem?" Boruto accuses.

With the guys arguing, I look around for a place to hide as the familiar sounding footsteps come closer and closer down the hall. It's definitely Sasuke. "Guys!" I call over their loud whisper-argueing. "Under the bed!"

By the time Sasuke comes into the room, we're all out of sight. Somehow all five of us managed to fit under Sasuke's luckily large bed. Although Boruto was right; Sasuke rarely ever comes to his room during the work day. I know I have no right to ask, but what's he doing here? I follow his footsteps and overhear Naruto's footsteps shortly behind.

"I worked on the contract last night, so it should be here."

"That's good," Naruto comments near the door.

"Don't breathe so close to me," Boruto whispers to Mitsuki.

"Would you guys shut up?" Shikadai orders.

"Who farted?" Inojin accuses, holding his nose. _Oh my god I can't with these guys._ While praying that we don't get found out, beside me since I'm on the end I realize there's a plastic see-through storage bin here under the bed near the wall. It doesn't have a lot of things. Mostly a few clothes and books Sasuke's read, but in the corner is what looks like a small black velvet ring box,

"Say, Sasuke, I have a bit of an errand to run in a bit," Naruto mentions, rubbing his nose from an off smell. I swear if one of these guys farted and it exposes us I'm going to kill them. "I promised Hinata I'd pick something up for her before six." That must be him getting ready to meet with Karin again.

"You can go. I can finish up here for the day."

"Thanks," Naruto nods. Still, he can't shake the news of Sasuke telling him his last girlfriend had passed away. That was pretty heavy, despite Sasuke not going too into detail. But after his kid's story, nothing really adds up. It definitely bothers him still, these contradicting stories.

"Before you go," Sasuke stops, picking up a file from one of his binders near his bed. His feet come a little too close to Boruto's head, and Mitsuki and a I have to cover his mouth to keep him from making any noises. "About what you said, this being a really important party and all."

"Yeah?"

"Get Sarada a separate stylist. Put it on my personal card."

I blink in confusement from under the bed. Naruto laughs a little. "Sure but, that's awfully nice of you. Why the sudden change in routine? You usually only spend on one stylist for the family during these events. One's more than enough for the five of us."

"I do. But, Sarada's last ball here wasn't the best." I recall being trained on blue blood etiquette, and being dressed and presented and prepped all night long - then all of it ending with me crying all the way to my room because of something Sasuke said. "I feel responsible for ruining her first impression of a real ball so I'm thinking spoiling her a bit will-"

"Even it out?" Naruto grins teasingly. "Bribe karma back on your side?"

Sasuke's face remains the same. "Will give her a better memorable experience. She can pick however she wants to look with her own stylist who can focus on just her and she can have fun with it instead of dreading the whole thing like she probably did last time." That's, actually really thoughtful of Sasuke. I can't believe he remembers something as insignificant as my 'first ball', even more so the terrible side of it. "It's almost her last month of summer here. I'm actually going to miss that kid."

"Me too," Naruto admits, contemplating a lot of things.

"I just want her to have fun at her probably last ball, that's all."

"Oooh, Sasuke wanting someone to have _fun_. That's a start, haha."

"Don't you have some errand to run for your wife?" Sasuke ushers, shoving Naruto and himself out of his room. I can hear their ongoing argument echoing down the hall. The door shuts, and we all slowly start to stick our heads and torsos out from under the bed.

"Wow," Boruto chuckles. "That's the most humane I've ever seen Sasuke before."

"Yeah," I almost laugh. "I guess he really does still care about me."

"Duh," goes Shikadai.

"I'll warn you now, having your own stylist is pretty fun," Inojin elbows. "Can't wait to see how you'll look at the ball," he winks.

"Yeah yeah we're still looking for the ring, remember," Boruto playfully shoves.

"Actually," I smile, catching the boys' attention.

I eventually show them the container under the bed and they help me pull it out. With Shikadai standing guard at the door again, we open the box to see Sasuke actually does have some memorabilia he keeps hidden. School sweaters, trophies, academic pins, and then this ring box. Boruto picks it up for me and holds it out. I take it, like I'm holding someone's soul in my hands.

"Well?" Mitsuki comes up beside me. "Open it."

With a careful breath, unsure of what I'm going to see once I open it, I carefully lift the lid and immediately, I see the sparkle of the most beautiful ring. I can't tell if it's an engagement ring or a really pretty and extravagant promise ring, but by the pink gems surrounding tiny little diamonds as a design around the top portion of the ring - almost like little cherry blossoms - I can almost tell it was picked out for my mom. "I-It's beautiful."

"That's the ring," Boruto smiles, standing up from the box on the floor. "Take it out, look on the inside." He nods at me one more time before I hesitantly remove the ring from its box. Mitsuki holds the box for me while I look around the inside portion of the band, where it's engraved, " _To Sakura, my love._ "

At that moment, a stream of flashbacks of my mother hugging and kissing me and calling me her love comes round full circle. And I wonder if Sasuke called her that often, because growing up my mom always called me st. But even more importantly, this ring here is proof Sasuke bought it for her while she was visiting Japan.

"This is definitely an engagement ring," Inojin tells me. "My dads in the jewelry business. Sasuke definitely bought this to propose to your mom with."

"Hey Sarada?" Mistuki calls over. He's kneeling down by the plastic storage box, pulling something out of it. It looks like an old folded note, but then I realize it's a photograph. Hesitantly I come over and kneel beside him, taking the carefully stored picture. It's ripped on the side - and I recognize it immediately. It's my mother, in a simple white dress holding a bouquet of cherry blossoms. The color's faded and aged, and I instantly remember Sasuke's half of the photo I took with me from home.

Without a word, I leave the room immediately. After a few words the guys quickly run after me to my bedroom. They arrive together to find me pulling my luggage out from under my bed, where I hid the photo of Sasuke I held onto my whole plane ride to Japan. I wanted to make sure no one ever found it, so I kept it in here.

The boys come up behind me and stand over as I hold the two halves of the picture together, bringing them closer and closer until the torn edge reunites perfectly. Mom and Sasuke are looking lovingly into each other's eyes, so simple and happy. In a way it looks like a wedding, but it's not.

"That's a photoshoot," Boruto realizes, not sure if that's the right thing to mention right now. "That's one of the studios that photographs Sasuke for his magazines sometimes. It's, not a real wedding." A small emboss of 'Aruna Studios' sits in the corner of the right half portion. It looks a little staged sure, and maybe they weren't married - but they looked so happy here. So sincerely happy.

Seeing so warms my heart.I look at the ring box I set down on my lap. Now I'm wondering why Sasuke never gave the right, or kept it? Agh, so many more questions. But right now I feel at peace. "I can't hate Sasuke. Not now. Hearing him out before and seeing these definitely seals the deal. I want to stay."

"Hopefully my dad feels the same way," Boruto mentions, reminding me today's still not over. "He must be on his way to Karin and those two guys at their hotel." That's right. In a few hours, everything could be over depending on what Naruto says. The guys and I exchange worried looks as the reality of today sinks in.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Uptown. Naruto has his driver take him down to the Itamori hotel. Going up to the room he reserved for them, he stands outside their door with a contemplative expression, having made his decision on what to do on the current matter. Although the whole ride over he's been wondering if it's the right decision.

He knocks on the door, and within a few seconds footsteps come to answer. It's the shark-toothed tattooed hooligan. "Ah, we've been expecting you," Suigetsu grins. "Nice pad you got us."

"I know." Naruto tries to keep a straight face, not exactly liking the idea of going places behind Sasuke's back. Suigetsu let's Naruto in, and while Jugo is, cooking dinner? Karin sits at the table flipping through tv channels.

"Naruto's here," Suigetsu calls over as they head to the table.

"About time," Karin pouts, still flipping channels.

"She's as rude as ever," Naruto mutters.

"Don't worry. She's like that to everybody," Suigetsu chuckles. "Except to Sarada of course."

"So, do we get our kid back or not?" Karin asks quite seriously, despite her lazy and carefree demeanor.

Instead, Naruto stops and kneels down to his knees, surprising Suigetsu standing right next to him. Jugo looks over from the kitchen area, and Karin finally stops clicking the tv remote, looking down. Naruto remains kneeling, head bent down and a submissive yet respectful frown on. "I'm here to ask for your permission to let Sarada stay a little longer."

This request obviously wasn't what everyone else through was going to go down.

"Why should I?" Karin asks skeptically from her chair.

"Hear me out," Naruto says, looking up. Proceeding to tell mainly Karin the entire story his son told him, of me finding out my father was Sasuke Uchiha and then flying all the way over to Japan just to see him - and everything else in between up to now. However Naruto's introspective view into this past summer adds to his explanation.

"I've never seen Sasuke more open with people in the house before," Naruto adds gratefully. "I can't deny that Sarada's presence has had an overall changing effect on Sasuke, and even me and my family."

Suigetsu whistles, having pulled up his own chair mid way through Naruto's story. "Damn, the kid's father was Sasuke Uchiha all this fucking time? Damn! What else hasn't Sakura told us?"

"But Sarada's okay?" Jugo asks, walking over with a mixed bowl off salad.

"It's been rough at times for her, I won't lie," Naruto admits, still seated kneeling on the floor. "But she's overcome a lot more than I probably know. It must've been so emotionally difficult for her dealing with Sasuke in the beginning. He doesn't even know they're family."

"Sasuke doesn't know?" Karin asks.

"I just found out, actually, thanks to you guys," Naruto also admits. "The kids came clean to me yesterday. But no, she hasn't told Sasuke. I believe she has her reasons though."

"She's a child! She shouldn't have reasons for any of this!" Karin argues protectively. "I'm taking her home and that's final!"

"And I won't stop you!" Naruto says. "Just please, if I can persuade you to let her stay, it'll be good for her!"

"What do you know!" Karin states. "Her mother kept this from her for a reason! I may not know why but Sarada's too young to be emotionally prepared to handle the reality that her father doesn't know who she is! That he may reject her when she comes clean with the truth! Of course she hasn't told Sasuke she's his daughter - he'd never look at her the same again!"

"But Sarada-" Naruto frowns.

"Needs to come home before she gets hurt," Karin says firmly. Her eyes glare behind her glasses, and th e atmosphere is tense. For once this crazy woman actually seems to make sense. And to really care about this kid Naruto's been taking care of. Naruto can't deny how off I've been acting the past few days. Definitely something Karin's anticipated.

"I think the kid should be able to stay," Suigetsu speaks up. Naruto's eyes open wider and he looks up to the left. Suigetsu locks eyes with Karin, who looks completely livid that her companion would even challenge her authority. "She's clearly made it this long without getting into any major trouble."

"I agree as well," Jugo speaks up from behind Naruto.

"You bastards," Karin curses under her breath, not expecting to have been outnumbered. They're all staring her down, waiting to see if her mind can be changed. "Give me one good reason I should let her stay."

"Because it would make her happy," Naruto suggests, innocently and simply.

Karin is taken back, not sure how to respond to that. But her partners' eyes all have the same sympathetic look. And suddenly Karin feels like the bad guy. She holds her head back and groans to herself before readjusting her glasses again. "Sakura won't be happy."

"Sakura doesn't have to know," Suigetsu says with a wave of his arm. "She hasn't caught on yet has she? What's one more month?"

"And you can keep in contact with my private number for anything you need," Naruto adds, trying to turn her favor.

Karin looks between each of the guys in front of her, knowing full well she can't go back on her decision. "I don't know what your kid told you exactly, but I'll have you know Sarada's mother was abandoned when she was having her baby. And as her friend I can never forgive Sarada's father, even if he is Sasuke Uchiha."

Naruto feels the sweat on the side of his face. Boruto mentioned that detail in his explanation earlier. However he can't forget Sasuke in clear earshot saying that his last girlfriend died years ago. They're the same person for sure, meaning someone is lying, Naruto figures. And he can't get to the bottom of it unless I stay.

X-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Somehow I think our main hang out place turned into the main staircase. After returning the ring and the half of the photo with my mom on it to Sasuke's room, we're all sitting around the base of the ballroom stairs, sprawled put. On a laptop, on a video game, or taking a nap. Mostly just waiting for Naruto to come home again for the 'ultimate judgement'. "And this was what you guys were doing all day yesterday?" Shikadai asks.

"Yes," Boruto And I dully answer.

"This is so aggravating," Boruto sighs, trying to pass the time on a video game beside me.

Mitsuki meanwhile is watching an anime with a Inojin on Boruto's laptop, not that it's really holding their attention. "I really hope you'll get to stay," Inojin finally says, speaking what everyone is thinking.

"I do too," Mitsuki adds, for once a little emotionally visibly upset.

"If I do end up leaving," I start, hugging my knees on the steps, "I'm really going to miss you guys." Sasuke aside, I've really come to love these spoiled knuckleheads. It didn't occur to me that when I finally leave, I'm not just saying goodbye forever to Sasuke, but to Boruto, and Shikadai and Mitsuki and Inojin.

"Hey," Shikadai warns, looking at everybody, "Don't get so emotional. We don't even know what Naruto's decision is yet."

"But, Shikadai-" Inojin gets cut off.

"If Sarada ends up going back to the states that doesn't mean we can't be friends anymore," Shikadai points out, trying to make it sound obvious and hide his own anxiousness about the matter. "There's always calling and texting and email. Whatever happens," he says to me, "you going home isn't the end of us being friends with you Sarada."

That was probably the sweetest thing Shikadai's ever said to me. "You mean that? You guys would still want to be friends with me even after I leave?"

"That's probably the stupidest question you've ever asked-" Boruto starts to say until a Shikadai elbows him.

"What Boruto means to say is yes," Shikadai finishes.

"I thought you guys only hung out with me because I was living with Boruto."

"Well at first yeah," Inojin points out. "But then we realized you were a lot cooler than Boruto."

"Hey!" Boruto retorts.

"I think you are a rather fascinating person," Mitsuki comments. I'm curious to hear his opinion of me. "Things have definitely been funner since you came along."

Boruto scoffs with a laugh. "Look at that, my friends already like you better than me," he jokes, "So of course we'll miss you if you go."

I smile a sappy smile, sitting with all of them around me. "You guys are the best." I pull them in for a group hug, and they all surprisingly return it as well. Honestly, the last thing I expected to do coming here was to make friends. But I'm so glad I did. Denki, Chouchou And Iwabe are definitly great, but these guys were something of their own league. They made me feel safe, and at home. They made me feel like I was a part of a family even when being around Sasuke didn't fulfill that factor. And no matter how this day ends, I want Boruto and the guys to know how important they are to me.

The thing to break up the moment is the front door opening, and Naruto coming through. All of us immediately notice and break up the hug, sitting upright all tense. "Dad?" Boruto calls out.

"Oh, you're all here," Naruto sees in surprise, removing his hat.

"So?" Boruto asks on our behalf as we all run up to him. "Can she stay...?"

Naruto looks each of us in the eye, with this hard to read expression.

Is he giving good news?

Bad?

"... She can stay-"

"YaaAAAAAAYYYYY!" All of us completely bombarded Naruto in an all around tackle-hug, screaming and cheering like crazy. The happiness I feel right now makes me realize that I really did want to stay after all. I want this, so bad. And now I'm so happy I get to be with everyone, _and_ Sasuke, even if it's just a little bit longer.

"MR. UZUMAKI YOU ROCK!"

"YOU'RE THE BEST OLD MAN EVER!"

"DAD I CANT BELIEVE YOU DID IT!"

"Haha okay okay let go! I'm awesome I get it!" Naruto laughs, unable to move from his spot.

"Thank you so much, Naruto!" I grin, hugging him tight with everybody.

From the side of the staircase comes Sasuke and Hinata, overhearing the scene near the front door. "What's all the commotion?" Hinata laughs, definitely enjoying the sight.

"Dad's constipation is finally gone!" Boruto grins within our group hug.

"WAIT BORUTO!" Naruto freaks out with a vein, but we all just end up laughing at him anyway while Naruto tries to defend himself.

"Sounds like something worth celebrating," Sasuke comments in snide remark.

"Oh shut up," Naruto glares, finally pushing us away.

Seeing Sasuke in a close enough range, I pull away from Naruto and the guys and walk up to him and Hinata. I encourage myself to smile up at my father, a little shy again. "I uh, just wanted to say I opened the stationary set. I like it a lot. Thank you for thinking of me during your trip, Sasuke."

Sasuke seems a little caught off guard, but he lets off a small smile for me and puts his hand on my head. _She seems back to normal. That's good_. "No problem, kid."

When all the chaos finally settles down, the front doorbell rings in its all grandness. I forget how regal the mansion door bell sounds. I ask Boruto who that could be, but he shrugs just as clueless as I am.

"Were we expecting anybody?" Naruto asks, looking at all of us. When no one answers him on his way to the door, he opens it anyway. And standing there is a tall pale man with long dark side bangs, and tied into a thin low ponytail in the back. He, actually looks a lot like Sasuke? Definitely has the same intimidating air about him as Sasuke.

Me and the other kids I think are equally baffled by this cool looking man. He just, holds your attention. But by the looks on the guys' faces, I don't think they know who he is either.

The adults on the other hand react quite differently. Hinata and Naruto seem rather surprised and Sasuke looks, kind of sick.

"I-Itachi," Naruto gathers himself. "What're you doing here?"

"To visit my little brother of course," the man smiles. Even his voice sounds so smooth. Wait, did he say little brother? Sasuke has a brother?! The man peers into the doorway and sees Sasuke in the back of our group. The two men make eye contact, and Sasuke's never looked more irritated and uncomfortable before. "Hello Sasuke."

* * *

 **LOOOOLLL IT'S ITACHI. Haha! I've been dying to put him in for a while.  
(And if you've ever read my Endearment of Fake Dating Story, you can imagine how I'll write Itachi here, haha) Thank you everybody for waiting and reading! Leave comments as to how you think it's going! I hope you enjoyed!**

 **PREVIEW:**

 ** _"Master Boruto," one of the maids call, entering the kitchen. "Your friends are here."_**

 ** _"Thank you," Boruto says very lowly, sliding out of the chair and dragging me along by the hand, or saving me._**

 ** _x-x-x-x-x-x_**

 ** _"Your brother's interesting," I compliment as Sasuke walks my way._**

 ** _"That's a polite way to put it."_**

 ** _"I never knew you had siblings. How come you never told me?"_**

 ** _"Itachi's not exactly somebody I like to talk about."_**

 ** _"Do you not get along?"_**

 ** _"Our personalities just don't click very well," Sasuke tries to word out. "We're family and all but he can be a handful."_**

 ** _x-x-x-x-x-x_**

 ** _"Secret passage," I identify out loud, having only seen ones like this on tv._**

 ** _"I didn't know Sasuke's mansion had these," Shikadai mutters to Boruto._**

 ** _"I didn't know either," Boruto stares, baffled no one ever told him about this secret door. Unless the adults didn't know either. However I start walking towards it and I push the tall and locker-sized door in, revealing a space to enter. Boruto's eyes bug out at me. "You're not actually going in there are you?"_**

 ** _"I am," I say obviously, already half way in._**

 ** _x-x-x-x-x-x_**

 ** _"What the hell were you doing on my computer, Uzumaki," Sasuke says in the most threatening tone he's ever used._**

 ** _"I don't know what the hell you're talking about!"_**

 ** _"Don't lie to me! I know you were in there!You crossed the line digging up into my ex girlfriend!"_**

 ** _"You don't understand!" Naruto tries to defend. Sasuke goes to grab Naruto and hold him up against the wall. Instead he manages to switch their positions, Naruto holding Sasuke's shirt up and trying to shove him off. This is slowly evolving into a physical fight. "You think she's dead but something isn't right here!"_**

 ** _"What isn't right here is you not respecting my privacy! If I say to lay off then LAY. OFF!" Sasuke yells before a punch is thrown._**


	19. All this Time Pt1

**Chapter 19:** **All this Time Pt.1**

 ** _Itachi Uchiha is a somewhat permanent guest now in the Uchiha household - and no one seems okay with that except for Sarada. However a mysterious letter left behind for her sends her and and the guys into a secret passage in the mansion. There Sakura discovers what really happened that cause her parents to split - Will she handle it well? Who is Fugaku Uchiha? Why did Itachi come to visit out of no where anyway?_**

* * *

So Itachi Uchiha is the infamous, yet apparently very young and attractive looking, older brother of Sasuke. I think Sasuke mentioned it in passing a long time ago, but I was never too aware Sasuke had any siblings, and apparently neither was Boruto so I guess that's alright. Itachi apparently would be staying with us in the mansion as a guest until this grand Ball apparently, with his whole room to stay in and everything.

It's been about a day, but by reading Sasuke's body language he's been less than pleased about his brother's stay. I couldn't imagine why at first, since he was so nice.

"I'm starting to get why you don't like this guy," a Naruto whispers to Sasuke with a scrunched up face across the kitchen. While Hinata's cooking breakfast by the stove, Itachi is keeping her company and entertaining her with apparently very hilarious and quiet humor. This interaction maintains Naruto's grumpy and menacing pout.

Sasuke meanwhile is more annoyed looking than usual, but he tries to keep it on the low. "Just put up with it. He's harmless."

"Easy for you to say," Naruto continues to glare, as Itachi gives Hinata some garlic powder.

Boruto and I sit cautiously at the kitchen table, eating cereal together and watching our dads watch Itachi. It's kind of funny, in a weird way, and somewhat entertaining to see Sasuke and Naruto so... uncomfortable. "This Itachi guy is kind of weird," Boruto says shamelessly.

"That's not very nice to say."

"Don't be such a pansy about it. You think so too."

I won't deny that I do feel a little uncomfortable around my technical uncle. He's, a particular personality. It's hard to describe. Aloof? Unpredictable? Polite definitely but, there are times when we'll make eye contact, but like, a lot. As if he can see _straight_ into my soul or something. It's a little nerve wrecking.

I haven't been alone with him or had a private conversation with him yet either. Boruto, Naruto, or Sasuke always seems to be in the vicinity preventing such an occasion.

"So," Itachi says, suddenly taking a seat across from me at the table. I was spacing out so hard I didn't realize him coming here. Instinctively I sit a little straighter, and I think I overhear Boruto choke on his cereal. "You're Sasuke's summer charity guest, right?" he smiles.

"Y-Yeah." Why am I stuttering? Oh my god the eye contact. If I look close enough into his eyes, there's this little red mysterious tint in them, that's hard to look away from.

"Hn, very cute," he comments, making me blush.

Boruto's brows scrunch up nervously, and Sasuke and Naruto watch observantly from the kitchen entrance, a little apprehensive now that he's with the children.

"I've seen you on magazines and online articles. It was hard to believe my little brother would take in a girl like yourself. Has he been doing a good job?"

"Sasuke's great," I respond quickly, a little too nervous to sound convincing. Just breathe Sarada. "The mansion's pretty amazing too."

"It is, isn't it," Itachi smiles, looking around the kitchen from the table. "I helped renovate this place actually a few years back."

"Really?"

"Mhm. I'm an architect, so I came up with some of the newer designs of this place before moving out and letting Sasuke take over."

"You make it sound like you did all the work," Naruto glares suspiciously, coming over behind Itachi's seat.

"Master Boruto," one of the maids call, entering the kitchen. "Your friends are here."

" _Thank you_ ," Boruto says very lowly, sliding out of the chair and dragging me along by the hand, or saving me. Out in the ballroom, Mitsuki Shikadai and Inojin are waiting by the front corridors. "You guys couldn't have come any sooner."

"Sorry were late, my limo is under some repairs so my driver had to take the convertible," Inojin says, and I try my best not to make a face.

"Is that guy from the weekend still here?" Shikadai says with his voice low.

Boruto nods. "He'll be staying with us for a while. Let's just lay low about the Sarada stuff and just hang out till things settle down."

"Fine with me," Mitsuki says , overhearing Naruto arguing with Itachi from the kitchen. "He's technically your uncle, isn't he Sarada?"

"Yeah," I say warily.

"So Boruto's room?" Inojin asks. Multiple versions of yesses and 'let's go's' sound of as the group of boys start making their way to the stairs.

"Wait let me get my laptop," I tell the guys once we reach the top of the stairs. While they go left, I go right to my room. If we're gonna just lounge around in Boruto's room for the day, I may as well take the time to reply to emails from Chouchou. I finally got back to her about everything that's been happening and she's sent back a long email of questions I just haven't gotten to replying to yet.

I turn the lights on in my room and look to my desk for the laptop. Unplugging it from the charger and picking it up, I see an envelope laying on my desk.

I stare at it for a second, letting it process that that wasn't there last time. "When did that get there?" Hesitating first, I pick it up and look at its back and front. There's nothing written on the envelope indicating who it's from, except a small red wax seal on the front with the Uchiha seal on it. Is it from Sasuke? Sasuke doesn't use wax seals.

Checking to see if I closed the door, I put the laptop down and hurry to open the envelope seal. Inside is a simple folded note that says:

 **"third floor, blue parlor, vol. 7"**

 _What the hell is this supposed to mean?_ However I overhear Boruto's voice down the hall calling for me, so I put the note back in the envelope and inside my laptop. On my way out I see Sasuke coming don the hall from the main staircase, looking exhausted. "Your brother's interesting," I compliment as he walks my way.

"That's a polite way to put it."

"I never knew you had siblings. How come you never told me?"

"Itachi's not exactly somebody I like to talk about."

"Do you not get along?"

"Our personalities just don't click very well," Sasuke tries to word out. "We're family and all but he can be a handful."

I chuckle. "You sound like the older brother."

"He just know how to push buttons. Everyone's buttons," Sasuke says with a shake of his head. "As the older brother naturally he was supposed to take over Uchiha Enterprises. But he wanted to become an architect instead, and after arguing with our father about it for a while, he eventually did and I had to pick up where he left off."

"Did you want to take over Uchiha Enterprises?"

Sasuke shrugs. "I didn't particularly mind." What kind of answer is that, Sasuke?

I say goodbye to him though as I pass Boruto's door. All the guys are already situated in Boruto's bedroom. Despite all the adult antics downstairs with Itachi, I realize this is the first time in a while we've had some normal down time. This must be what their usual days are like hanging out in the summer. It's nice being a part of it.

"Sit here, Sarada," Inojin calls, pulling over a beanbag chair for me. I gladly take the seat and plop down in it, opening my laptop.

Before I can log onto my email, Mitsuki spots the envelope sitting on my keyboard. "What's that?"

"I found it under my laptop back in my room." Mitsuki picks it up, observing it as I had earlier.

Boruto's in a heated match with Shikadai on one of their games. However he spots the red Uchiha seal on the envelope Mitsuki's holding after overhearing us. "What did it say inside?" Mitsuki asks.

"Weird stuff, I don't know," I reply, not paying much mind to it.

"Gimmie that," Boruto swipes the envelope from Mitsuki's hands, suddenly standing between all of us. I watch him look at the red seal, and I think he recognizes it as well. "Sarada where did you get this?"

"I just said; it was on my desk, under my laptop."

"What's it say?" Inojin asks as Boruto takes the envelope's contents out. Shikadai puts his game down, and Boruto tosses the envelope to read the inside,

"Third floor, blue parlour, volume seven," he reads aloud. I still don't really know what it means. "What?" Boruto reacts, just as baffled.

"You didn't leave this for me did you?" I ask suspiciously.

Boruto shakes his head with a puzzled look. "But... we do have a blue parlor, up on the third floor. I think there's an encyclopedia collection up there in its bookshelves. Wanna check it out?"

Needless to say, we put everything we're doing down and leave together for the staircase to the third floor. I have to admit, I'm a little excited. It's like a little scavenger hunt. Someone put the envelope in my room - and it wasn't any of the boys apparently.

The third floor is mostly a bunch of other extra rooms we don't often use. Tea rooms, parlor rooms, a few guest rooms, a second kitchen, the spa-bathroom we use for getting ready for special parties. Boruto leads us to the very specific blue parlor though. It's like the green room on the first floor, but a bit more spacious and a little less furniture. More a very open room, with a lone black grand piano in the center. There's about four book cases in the back Boruto leads us to.

And just like he said, one of the bookshelves are lined with similar-covered encyclopedias, all with different volumes. "I've never seen an encyclopedia set before," I note, looking at it with interest.

"Then you still haven't. These are all fakes," Boruto tells me. "A lot of sets like these ones are just for display. Not that all our bookshelves have fake books, but up here at least we do." Wow. Makes me wonder if any other mansions have the same thing.

"For a fake book, Volume 7 looks pretty messed up," Inojin comments, leaning over into the shelf. He goes on to pull out the book, but it only tilts out a portion of the way before it gets stuck, standing on its corner base. Seconds later, I feel a vibration in the floor coming from the wall. The pillar embedded into the wall beside the bookshelf presses into itself, revealing a pushable narrow secret door.

Based on the guys' faces, none of them knew about this either. "Secret passage," I identify out loud, having only seen ones like this on tv.

"I didn't know Sasuke's mansion had these," Shikadai mutters to Boruto.

"I didn't know either," Boruto stares, baffled no one ever told him about this secret door. Unless the adults didn't know either. However I start walking towards it and I push the tall and locker-sized door in, revealing a space to enter. Boruto's eyes bug out at me. "You're not actually going in there are you?"

"I am," I say obviously. There's no way they weren't considering it. I roll my eyes. " _Somebody_ left me that note, so obviously I was supposed to find this place and go in." I take one step in, not expecting the short ditch into the pillar. I look back at the still surprised guys. Have these guys never had any real adventure before? "You boys coming?"

The guys all look at each other for a second before eventually following along. The space inside past the narrow entrance is dark, and smells like a muggy basement. Old, or at least not recently visited.

It's a steep concrete staircase down, spiral and narrow and dusty. We walk down slowly in a line, with me in the front. Boruto's right behind, then Shikadai, then Mitsuki, then Inojin. At this point everyone who has their phone on them is holding it up as a light. Surprisingly it's still not very bright.

"I wonder where this leads," Mitsuki echoes from behind.

"We're heading downwards, I'm guessing somewhere in the mansion still. I think," I say, conscious of the echo. "Hey I see something."

The staircase pathway comes to an end, to a brick wall with lights coming through in between the brick cracks and lining. I run to touch it and press against the stone wall, feeling it move all together as one, like those spinning doors. "Guys help me."

Using all our weight on the left side, we all push with all our mights to get it to budge against whatever's holding it closed on the other side. It felt like there was something heavy on the opposite side of the wall. As we eventually spin it around, I hear a small crash of a shelf, and the collapse of a bunch of books - hence what was probably blocking us in.

Once our eyes readjust to the light out of the tunnel, we come out of the wall and around the fallen bookcase mess. "Oh my..." We finally all take in where we are. It's a huge fairy-tale sized library, with shelves as tall as the ceiling, and ladders with wheels that can reach dozens of feet up in the air. There's some stained glass windows near the top of the room with hints of sunlight - hinting we're in an almost basement level of the mansion. It seems somewhat dusty and unkept, and I don't think anyone really knows of this part of the house.

"Whoa.." Inojin stares.

"Look at all these books," Shikadai goes in circles, along with the rest of us. It's intimidatingly and alluringly large for a library. Colorful in design too.

"There's no way my dad and Sasuke know about this," Boruto says excitedly, spinning with his neck bent backwards, just looking up.

I wander a little farther away from the guys, curious as to how big this room is. I look at the books and read the titles on the sides. There's travel books, science books, history books; all orderly and categorized. Some shelves over, I notice some handwritten labels on a trail of shelves labeled: 'Itachi's Sketches'. Literally dozens and dozens of them.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

In the upper levels of the Uchiha Mansion, Naruto is doing his own snooping on the matter. Sasuke was out for a business lunch with some important people Naruto couldn't care to remember he names of. What mattered to him, was using this precious time in the Sasuke-less mansion to dig up some dirt on his dead-not-dead girlfriend.

"Okay okay okay," Naruto hushes to himself, sneaking into their office space and closing the door. Coming around Sasuke's desk to his computer, he logs into his email on Sasuke's computer.

 _So Karin says that Sarada's mom is Sakura Haruno._ _Sasuke's only girlfriend had to be her - so why does he think she's dead? I don't think he was pulling my leg or anything like that. Then that birth certificate._ None of these random puzzle pieces fit together. So Naruto took it upon himself to hire a private investigator, to pull up any info on this Sakura Haruno woman.

The latest email from the investigator checks back in, and Naruto opens it:

Sakura Haruno - an American Fashion Designer from New York City. Lives a very private life. Single mother, thirteen-year old-daughter. Not a fishy woman at all on paper. Stunning actually. Was a model once apparently, and her photos were the definition of beauty. Naruto was impressed, and not at all surprised Sasuke would score a girl like this at some point in his life.

He clicks through some more documents emailed to him, reading on. Sasuke's clean. Sakura's clean. "Somebody lied to Sasuke," Naruto concludes. He had his suspicions. Naruto knew the ins and outs of how blue blood families work - Sakura Haruno grew up a commoner according to these files. A union between them would've never flown. Anybody would have anything to gain from preventing a marriage between Sasuke and a commoner woman.

Curiously, Naruto tries to look up Sakura Haruno online on Sasuke's desktop. The info he knows now is from a private investigator. If he searched her up online, Naruto wondered what he'd find. "Sakura Haruno. An incredibly sought-after and hard to contact designer. Any collaborations or commissions are incredibly rare. No one knows her home location of work as she's always on the move _._ " _The fuck?_ Naruto does more research, realizing this woman has been all over the world, not so much on media tabloids either. Whoever Sakura Haruno was, she had a very clean record and image. Not at all tainted, and surprisingly hard to trace. She was a smart woman for sure to be on the brink of the rich elite without internet information out there.

Hiding her from Sasuke would be incredibly easy.

"ARGGHHH!" Naruto groans loudly, falling back in the leather chair. "Why does this feel like some forbidden soap drama shit? Man," Naruto sighs, staring back at the computer.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

All of Itachi's sketchbooks are all numbered in volume, and there's tons. Maybe hundreds. I pull one out of curiosity and open it, revealing beautiful hand drawn sketches from life and observation. Some of buildings, some of the body. Just, life as Itachi probably saw it. One of the pages even has a small sketch of a couple, sitting together.

"It's mom and dad..." I smile, looking longingly into the pencil sketch. It' ebbed and smudged a little over the years, but it's definitely them. No doubt more of these books contained beautiful drawings as well.

Respectfully I put the book back in place. Itachi must at least know of this place if his sketchbooks are all down here. _Was it him who left me that note?_ I walk down the small aisle, and amidst the perfect identical labels of Itachi's sketchbooks, I notice one in the middle and how out of place it is. It's not labeled, and has a brown leather almost broken binding to it.

Curiosity pulls over again and I take the book out - more carefully this time since it looks a little fragile. Then I realize by the bulky pages it's more of a scrap book. I open the cover and see Itachi's name signed inside.

"Yo Sarada," Boruto calls coming around down my aisle. "What's that you found?"

"I don't know," I stare, looking at all the incredible photos taped inside. But on the first page one of the polaroids taped down was of Sasuke and my mom.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Eventually, we find a small dusty table with chairs in a small clearing in the middle of some shelves. We all surround the large scrap book, going page by page. I've learned my fair share of history from the mansion itself. This scrapbook looks a lot more like the 'behind-the-scenes' stuff I'd find Boruto's gang getting caught up in. A bunch of these are dated back to when Itachi was a kid or even a teenager.

Based on a lot of polaroids scattered throughout these pages actually, I would've never known this belonged to one of the richest people in Japan. They look so, normal. Casual. Enjoying life. "Dude who drew on Sasuke's face?" Boruto laughs, pointing at one photo. We all share a good laugh at that. Sasuke must've fallen asleep and someone few on him and took a picture. Probably Itachi.

Also taped to the book are some movie tickets, some postcards, small post its with daily notes from Itachi's work, tiny sketches on paper or napkins taped in. Receipts. Tiny envelopes with wedding invitations. Stamps. It gets pretty random as we go on, but still very interesting.

"Itachi almost seems pretty normal, looking at all this stuff," Shikadai comments as I turn a careful page.

A few papers fall from the next page as I turn it though, and Mitsuki and Inojin go to try and catch them or pick them up. "Sorry about that," I apologize as they return the papers to me. Unlike what we've seen before, these crumpled pieces of paper have a hard to read script on them, almost like old drafts of a book report or something from high school.

"God his writing is atrocious," Inojin sneers.

"Wait gimmie that," Boruto grabs, swiping it from Inojin before I can take it. He looks so serious.

"What is it?" Shikadai arches an eyebrow.

Boruto looks at the other notebook papers, and at the ones in a makeshift folder in the scrapbook page. "These are all drafts for a letter or something. I guess they're from Itachi."

Suspiciously, I look through the taped folder in the scrapbook, seeing even more similar crumpled failed drafts, all worded similarly - not that I can understand what they say. In the back of all the papers, I find a regular envelope, addressed from 'Fugaku Uchiha' in Itachi's handwriting. "Who's Fugaku Uchiha?" I ask.

"Sasuke's dad," Boruto answers, putting his papers down. I slip the envelope out of place, also aged and browned on the edges a bit. I open it and find a twice folded letter inside, typed and legible. It looks to be a printed email letter. _This is from my grandfather...?_

 _Itachi,_

 _If the results from the hospital are true, you and I both know we cannot tolerate this monstrosity. We cannot afford for this news to reach any media outlet, if we want to protect the Uchiha name. I won't be able to return home for this matter, but I've made arrangements with the hospital to terminate the baby. Don't trouble your mother with this matter. It should be taken care of discretely and quickly, before Sasuke wakes up. The hospital requires your signature on the termination so please do so as soon as you can. Then I want this girl out of my sight by the time I return this weekend._

 _Fugaku_

I didn't realize my hands were trembling as I read the short email. W-What the hell was this? Why do I have this ghostly feeling this was about... me? And Mom? I didn't hear Shikadai calling my name until he took the letter from my hands. I have goosebumps and I carefully find my seat to sit down again.

"What is it?" Boruto asks impatiently, reading my expression and Shikadai's disturbed reaction to this damn letter. While the guys go and figure it out, I look at the endless crumpled drafts Itachi made. Eventually I spot out another printed and folded typed letter, without an envelope. It's labeled in ugly handwriting outside: 'Final Draft'. I assume and piece together all these hand written notes were drafts to reply to that horrid email.

I'm a little afraid to read Itachi's response, but bravely I swallow and unfold the final draft he printed:

 _Father,_

 _It's come to mother's and my attention that you have no interest in the well-being of your son and the mother of his child. I apologize for breaking secrecy with mom, but this is too important for formalities. Your priorities with Uchiha Enterprises has blinded you from the madness you've demand of me. Sasuke's condition has not yet improved, but Sakura's has and will be waking up soon. Despite the hospital being a branch of the Uchiha's, my word is just as good as yours when it comes to the orders over this situation, and if I tell the doctors to refuse your orders then they will do so. I refuse to sign on to the termination of Sasuke's child._

 _Though I understand the predicament the family is in, mother and I have arranged a deal that I would like to talk to you in person over. Please call me as soon as you can to discuss this matter._

 _Itachi_

"It is me...," I take in, trying to remain calm. Now is _not_ the time to lose my cool.

"What the hell is going on," Shikadai mutters in horror, him and all the guys starting to catch onto this terrible secret we've discovered.

My knees are still shaking, but I hold it all in. I can't cry right now. I'm too mad, or confused? I don't know. But I need more answers, and they're right upstairs. "We need to talk to Itachi," I state, calm and mature. I need to reign in this chaotic tension unfolding around all of us. "We can think up a ton of things going on behind these but we won't understand until we talk to him."

"Are you sure, Sarada?" Boruto asks me, my well-being first and foremost in his mind.

I nod more confidently this time. I'm still scared, but I look him in the eye, to be brave for them too. "Yes."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

It's almost evening now. Sasuke's still out of the mansion thankfully, and Naruto's no where to be found. Most likely working - also good. We all asked Hinata where Itachi was, and she said he must be in the orange sitting room on the first floor. The guys all walk me to the room as a grop, but before I can come in front of the open door, I stop abruptly and turn to the startled guys behind me. "Do you guys mind if I do this alone?"

"You sure you don't want us there with you?" Inojin asks worried.

"She got this," Boruto interjects, answering for me. He looks worried too, but he gives me a look that says 'do your best'. I return it with a trustful nod and a grin, and turn my back to do this alone.

"Good luck," I hear Mitsuki whisper.

"We'll be in Boruto's room," Shikadai adds solemnly before they disappear down the hall.

And just like Hinata told us, Itachi was inside, sitting at one of the many grand pianos of this place. He seems to be writing something in a notebook, and then playing a few beautiful notes on the ivory keys. Is he composing? "Itachi?" I call, as a warning of interruption.

He pauses in his work and leans over, seeing me at the room entrance. "Sarada. How can I help you?"

I come up closer to the grand piano and stand beside the piano bench. The sun is setting, bringing in a warm saturated light into the already orange room. "You put that envelope in my room didn't you."

Itachi plays a few keys, as carefree seeming as always. "And?"

"And, you wanted me to find that library," I assert, losing a bit of my nerve. "You wanted me to find that scrapbook and all those letters in it."

Itachi suddenly plays a wrong key in the melody he was performing. It startles me a little and stiffens my shoulders. Slowly he turns to me with that familiar tense Uchiha stare I've learned all to well from Sasuke. _Or maybe I wasn't supposed to find it?_ "Am I in trouble?" I ask nervously.

A small pft escapes his lips before he laughs. I've never heard Itachi laugh yet. It lets my guard down a little. But only a little. "You're so timid. You're definitely Sasuke's daughter."

 _Huh?_ "S-So you know."

"I've known for a while now," Itachi lets on playing a few less loud keys. It's a nice melody. "I've heard about the charity case Sasuke let stay at his home, but the instant I saw your face on the magazines, I knew who you were."

"Is my face that recognizable?" Hell even Ino knew who I was the instant she saw me. It can't be that obvious a resemblance can it?

"Uncle's intuition," Itachi smiles, moving over on the piano bench. "Sit."

Obediently I come over and scoot closer to the man on the small bench. There's a cool air to him, and I wonder if that runs in the family. It definitely hasn't hit me yet. There's something nice about sitting next to a family member who knows who I really am. It's really nice.

"That library used to be a basement, but I had it redone into my own secret library years ago. Even Sasuke doesn't know about it," he pauses. "Your mother was a lovely woman, you know," Itachi mentions. "Spunky. I liked her a lot."

"'Spunky'," I repeat knowingly. "Why does my mom as a kid sound like such a stranger to me?"

"A woman in her teens is a different woman than one in her thirties," Itachi points out, still testing out a few more keys and jotting down some musical notes on the notebook up top. "Just as I'm sure you're a different girl now than you were before your trip here."

He's not wrong.

"Sasuke and Sakura were dating in high school, and despite no longer being together afterwards, I knew Sasuke never got over her. She was living in Europe at the time, then working in the U.S. At that point, I suggested he invite her over to Japan for a little while. It took forever to convince him to reach out - but when he did, she said yes and flew over as soon as she could."

I know this part of the story, but it's nice to hear it again from Itachi. It makes it even more real.

He plays a bit more piano. "Things were going well for them. They spent all their time catching up, while Sasuke balanced work. Our father worked overseas at the time, and Sasuke was prepping to become the new head of the family very soon now that he was out of college. Still pretty young to take over a large corporation, but that's how we do things."

"Was Sasuke happy with that?"

"I don't know," Itachi answered honestly. "Once I announced my plans to denounce my inheritance of the company, Sasuke was immediately put up front for it. The extra schooling, the extra tutoring - and he did them well. But after our mother insisted he try going to a normal high school, and made the friends that he did, I can't help but feel he realized what he could be missing out on in life. He'd never admit it, but if it was up to him, I think he'd give up the family name to be a normal person like you."

If Naruto said the same thing I don't know if I'd believe him. Hearing Itachi say so though, it gives me a small glimmer of hope for my dad.

"Eventually during your mother's visit, Sasuke announced to us during a family dinner and video call with our father that he planned to marry the girl he was seeing." My heart skips a beat. "He was professional and forward with all of us, asking for our blessing before going through with it. He had a ring ready and everything. Of course, our father was heavily against it."

"Why?"

"Despite your mother's middle-class success post university, unless you were born into money, you'd be no where good enough to marry an Uchiha in our dad's eyes," Itachi explained, a small frown on his face. "He was willing to have your mother sent far far away. Money would allow him to do so. Terminate her job, transfer her, dig up dirt that could ruin her financial stability - if you crossed Fugaku Uchiha, he could ruin you."

"Grandpa sounds like a scary man," I've come to realize.

"Grandpa," Itachi scoffs, still focused on his composition. "He would have been anything but, if he were still alive." Wow. "But our father's threats did nothing to deter your parents from each other. In fact, they'd planned to elope. Sasuke was willing to drop his entire inheritance to be with this woman."

"That's so romantic."

"If only it ended that way," Itachi admits. "Unfortunately they got into a car accident together. It was terribly fatal. Both were transferred to an Uchiha branch hospital immediately after in critical condition. Father was still out of the country, so Mother and I came to them as fast as we could." I listen quietly, having never known of such an accident. Mom never talked about this either. "The doctor who looked over them eventually told my mother and me that Sakura was pregnant at the time. No one knew, not even your parents."

My eyes sparkled a little at the mention of me. So, they did have me then.

"Both Sakura and Sasuke were under heavy sedation at the time, and wouldn't wake up for a few days. Unfortunately father was also reported to about these results. He had plans to terminate the baby, thinking it would ruin the Uchiha name. He refused to accept such an 'irresponsible mistake' from the heir of Uchiha Enterprises, much less a child with a commoner. He wanted the baby gone before Sasuke woke up, so he wouldn't even know."

"That's terrible," I try to fathom. How could someone do that to their own son? To their grandchild? "Is that even legal?"

"Our family owned that hospital, and our dad has money." I got the rest. "Our mother and I disagreed, knowing Sasuke and Sakura would never want to happen to you. But they wouldn't be waking up any time soon, so we had to act fast. I did as best I could to stall the termination, and eventually came up with a plan to persuade our father to let things be."

"W-What was the plan?" I ask almost too quietly.

Itachi sighs, finally stopping playing the piano. It's dead silence between us for a while, but I wait patiently for him to tell me. "Sakura would be brought out of sedation first before Sasuke. It wasn't the ideal circumstance, but I was there when she woken up. I'd told her about her pregnancy. I told her she could be sent back to live in the U.S with a paid flight and some money, after I told her that Sasuke wanted nothing to do with her at the mention of the pregnancy."

Tears welled up behind my glasses. I know the lie was to save me but... oh my god.

"The lie was essential for her to leave quickly. In return for the money and home-living in the U.S, she was to have no contact with Sasuke or the Uchiha family from that point on. Once she was discharged from the hospital the next day, she packed up her things and left for her new life with you."

I sniffle, and rub my eyes quickly and bravely. "What about Sasuke?"

Itachi looked even more regretful than before. "Sasuke was brought out of sedation a few days later once she was gone. He'd gotten the worst of the accident. But I had to tell him that Sakura didn't make it," Itachi sighs. I can feel the pain behind his words, another lie. And I know it wasn't his fault. "He never knew about you, Sarada." We sit together in silence as I take this all in. Somehow the lack of random piano keys makes it even heavier. "I wanted to meet you, and apologize for making your life the way it is," Itachi says as sincerely as he can. "It was all your grandmother and I could do to-"

I cut him off with a gentle side hug, almost to comfort him more than myself. "It's okay," I manage out in a little hiccup. I meant to hide that better than I let out. "Thank you, for saving my life."

And just like that, Itachi puts his arm around me, and we sit like that for what feels like an hour just accepting the truth all out in the air.

After Itachi's and my giant heart-to-heart life-changing talk, I went to find the guys - who I knew would be somewhere in the mansion. Boruto's room, actually.

And they were all there, playing video games, waiting patiently for my return. Needless to say, when I arrived at his door all their activities ceased to a stop. My eyes were already watery from the talk, but seeing all their expectant and worried faces hit me hard - and I just started to cry right there at the door. In a second I was in the tightest group hug of my life as my cries were muffled by whoever was covering my face.

Boruto had mentioned that they'd all arranged to sleep over tonight, in case my talk with Itachi took a turn for the worse. I thought that was so sweet. Of course they wanted to know everything that went down, if I was willing to say it. And slowly and willingly, after a shower and a change into some pajamas, I did.

We're all sitting on Boruto's floor in a circle, their ears glued to every word I said. Re-telling the story really kicks it home for me. Solidifies it in reality. But somehow, it gives me a sense of closure too. "Oh my god," Shikadai says, speechless for once.

"That's what I thought," I slump, my back against Boruto's bed. "Sasuke thinks my mom died, and my mom thinks Sasuke abandoned her."

"All these years they were lied to?" Inojin rewords. "About each other so they'd be kept apart?"

"You dumbass, weren't you paying attention?" Boruto lectures. "It was to save Sarada."

"And keep them apart. Inojin isn't wrong," I frown, hugging my legs. "If not an abortion, that was what my grandpa wanted after all. This way at least, I was out of his way. So in a sense I guess it really was my fault they couldn't be together."

"Hey don't think like that," Boruto says, flicking my forehead. Ow. He grins at me, up close to my face sitting in front of me. He's so close, my face his heating. "You would've been totally fine if your parents eloped without that stupid car accident. Things just worked out this way. So, don't ever think anything's your fault."

I don't know if my heart's beating because I'm sad, or because of Boruto. "B-But-"

"No buts," Boruto interrupts sternly, still up close to my face. "It's not your fault."

Shikadai, Mitsuki and Inojin look between the two of us and at each other, before I nod with a smile. Clearly a moment.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Later that night when the moon is up, Naruto sneaks into the kitchen after a long work day to grab a quiet bite from the fridge. He'd missed dinner catching up on paperwork he missed (while doing his secret research). Naruto pulls out the carton of milk, some ingredients for a good sandwich, and goes to carry it all over to the black marble counter to help himself. It doesn't take long to make the perfect sandwich.

Seconds later, Sasuke Uchiha marches straight into the kitchen. Seeing Naruto, he makes his way and grabs the guy right out of his seat before he can take his second bite into his sandwich. "What the hell were you doing on my computer, Uzumaki," Sasuke says in the most threatening tone he's ever used.

Naruto's mouth is half full before he swallows and shoves Sasuke's fists off his shirt collar. "I don't know what the hell you're talking about!" Naruto argues, coughing a bit before drinking some milk down.

"Don't lie to me! I know you were in there!"

"Prove it!"

"Your search history, dumbass!" Sasuke shoves, banging Naruto into the fridge.

Naruto rubs his head and curses at himself for leaving behind such a stupid mistake. "I'm an idiot."

"You crossed the line digging up into my ex girlfriend."

"You don't understand!" Naruto tries to defend, but Sasuke goes to grab Naruto and hold him up against the wall. Instead the blond manages to switch their positions, Naruto holding Sasuke's shirt collar up and trying to shove him off. This is slowly evolving into a physical fight, with both trying to hold on on punches. "You think she's dead but something isn't right here!"

"What isn't right here is you not respecting my privacy! If I say to lay off then LAY. OFF!"

"Get off of me!" The two start trying to wrestle the other down, banging into different things in the kitchen. A few pots and pans slip and fall, and the sound of moving stools and chairs echo throughout the room. Naruto holds Sasuke down on the table, holding his fists. "I did this for your own good! Someone lied to you man! She might still be out there!"

"Shut up!" Sasuke throws Naruto off him, the blond's back landing right on the tiled floors. Before he can recover, Sasuke holds him down and punches him hard in the face. Naruto blocks the second punch before the two are wrestling again. "She's gone! Don't you dare say otherwise! You have no idea what the hell you're getting yourself into!"

"It was a cover up." Itachi's voice says loud and clear in the background. Naruto and Sasuke stop struggling instantly hearing they have an audience. Itachi stands in the clearing, probably coming to check what all the noise was about this late at night. However his expression is serious, having clearly heard everything. "That accident you got into Sasuke? When we told you Sakura died in that crash, it was a cover up," he repeats. "She's alive."

Sasuke holds still over Naruto, who is also just surprised by this sudden revelation.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Minutes later, the two men are holding ice packs to their respective worse joints, all inside their office in privacy. Naruto is on the computer, looking for his email from earlier. "There's no way," Sasuke continues to deny. He's a little emotionally unstable at the moment, something totally rare. "She's gone. She's been gone."

"I know this is hard to take in," Itachi says as patiently as he can. "But it's true."

"Is this enough proof for you, teme?" Naruto says, half teasingly and half sympathetically. He turns the monitor around to show his friend. Hesitantly Sasuke walks up to his desk and lowers his ice pack from his jaw. There's a few images of a familiar pink-haired woman on the screen. "I had a private investigator look into her."

Sasuke meant to lecture Naruto, but he was too mesmerized by the girl on the screen. Her familiar face, and smile. That glow of life in her eye. _Sakura._ Sasuke looks almost terrified to believe it. His brings his bandaged hand up to the side of the monitor, grasping it to ground him in reality that this wasn't just a dream. "Why would you lie to me all this time," Sasuke says for Itachi. "W-Why tell me the truth _now_ of all times?" Sasuke turns around to his older brother, guilty. "Do you have any idea how messed up this is right now?"

"Yes," Itachi answers in a 'duh' tone. "I was waiting for the right time, and now was the right time."

"Why the hell now?" Sasuke says, trying to keep his patience in.

"Sakura was pregnant at the time of the accident," Itachi informs as seriously as possible, shocking Sasuke and Naruto behind the desk. "You and Sakura were under sedation for a while, but Dad wanted to terminate the baby. So Mom and I arranged for Sakura to get out of the country, keep out of the public eye and away from the Uchiha name, so the kid could have a chance. We told her you wanted nothing to do with the baby so she would leave immediately. Then after you woke up we had to tell you she died in the crash."

Sasuke stumbles back and leans against his desk, sitting and silent. His mind is racing at a hundred miles a second, and he isn't sure what to process first. "She was pregnant?" Sasuke asks else itachi said seemed to phase through ore than that.

Itachi leans in on his seat. "She had a daughter. She's thirteen years old now. She was raised by her mom in the U.S and is currently visiting Japan." Sasuke looks confused for a moment as Itachi walks up and pulls out one of the tabloids resting on Sasuke's desk. He places it beside Sasuke, on the cover me and him at a ribbon cutting ceremony. The gears start to turn in Sasuke's head, while Naruto timidly and anxiously stands behind the desk watching this whole ordeal unfold.

"Sarada...? Is.. mine and Sakura's?" Sasuke finally says.

"Take your time," Itachi advises.

"The kids are aware of most of this, by the way," Naruto quietly brings up. Sasuke looks back at his friend. "Sarada knows who you are. She came here to meet you."

 _Fuck all this time?_ Sasuke lets out a held in breath, feeling a deserving headache coming on. Suddenly the past couple of weeks flash by through his head, rewinding and replaying scenes with this girl. All the times he was a jerk, and all the times I vaguely spoke about about my family situation.

"Her mom doesn't know she's here," Naruto continues softly. "She's doing work in Paris right now, and Sarada flew out here on her own right after."

"When did you find out?" Sasuke asks, surprisingly not angry anymore. The shock factor must still be up front in his head.

"While you were still in Hawaii, Boruto and the kids told me, after Sarada's babysitters back home tried to bring her back," Sasuke admits guiltily, ashamed for hiding something to crucial from his best friend. "I almost sent her home, but then she told me she was your daughter." It hits Sasuke again when Naruto says that. "The boys wanted her to stay. _She_ wanted to stay _._ I, couldn't say no. I pulled some strings with her babysitters and bought her some more time."

"Why is she here? What's she trying to do?"

"To see you, stupid," Naruto lectures, returning to his usual tone.

"It's probably best to keep the status quo, pretend we don't know anything yet," Itachi advises to them both. "At least until we figure out a few more things."

"Y-Yeah..." Sasuke says, unusually speechless.

Later that night after calming down, the three men go to check on the kids in their supposed sleepover. It's a little towards midnight and we should be asleep, but as kids are, we're wide awake. Sasuke peers into Boruto's room with Itachi and Naruto, seeing us playing video games. The room reeks of pizza, and I'm in the middle of the bundle of boys holding controlers close to our chests, our eyes wide and reflecting the TV screen. Our screams fluxuate in volume but continue to tower over each other as our close racing game comes to a near end.

All our cares are out the window - we're just being kids. And Sasuke can't help but see this girl in a new light. This whole summer, they've been together all this time.

"You okay, man?" Naruto whispers, a hand on his shoulder to snap him back to reality.

"Yeah," Sasuke answers, finally composed. And as different as everything is now, Sasuke can accept being happy that the old love of his life is alive. That they have a daughter. That she's right here, in front of him. Knowing such a huge part of his life was a lie would normally make him angry beyong belief. Vengeful even. But oddly enough, he felt the most at peace he's ever been in his life. That's sure to change by morning but for now, everything was good.

Sasuke smiles before moving on with Naruto and Itachi. The next day would be something new to prepare for.

* * *

 **W.H.O.A.A.A.A**

 **AHA.**  
 **THEY KNOW.**  
 **THEY ALL KNOW.**

 **AHHH! Haha, I hope you guys enjoyed the last chapter and this one! I loved all your reviews and I'm glad to hear what you think!**

 **PREVIEW:**

 _ **Sasuke can't help but look across the kitchen to me and Hinata getting the dishware together. She and I make a short but sweet exchange of words, making me laugh. Only now does Sasuke start to see the similarities from Sakura in me. The way my eyes crease when I laugh. My smile. The big wide eyes.**_

 _ **'How the hell did I not see it before?' Sasuke thinks to himself.**_

 _ **x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

 _ **"The Subasa Gala," I utter, finding the term kind of familiar.**_

 _ **"All our families are going, actually," Mitsuki notes to me.**_

 _ **"And my dad is the stylist for the Uchiha household this year," Inojin adds across the table.**_

 _ **x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

 _ **"Everyone knows out of the Uzumakis and the Hyuugas, the Hyuugas are the one with money. Technically, Naruto was a commoner growing up."**_

 _ **No way. "For real?" I blink.**_

 _ **Mitsuki nods, and the two of us look back at the adults. Naruto and Hinata are talking with a celebrity couple, Naruto's hands proudly on his son's shoulders during their talk. "His mom's side of the family never particularly approved of Naruto, so they often put him down. And Boruto as well. Because of that, Naruto's name goes back and forth on the spectrum around these things."**_

 _ **"That's pretty messed up."**_

 _ **"It's how things are," Shikadai cuts in, coming up beside us. "Boruto doesn't let any of it get to him in public, but he secretly feels like he always has something to prove when it comes to family business with the Hyuugas; not that he'll ever fight back about it."**_

 _ **"Why not?"**_

 _ **"He'd get his mom in trouble," Inojin finishes. It's hard to argue for that. The world of the rich is still hard for me to understand.**_

 _ **x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

 _ **"Are you sure you don't want to tell Sarada about you knowing?" Naruto frowns, standing in the middle of the crowd with his friend, overlooking the kids.**_

 _ **Sasuke shakes his head. "Not yet. If it gets out who she is it'll just mean trouble for her and the media."**_

 _ **"You mean you and the media?" Sasuke looks offended his friend would think this was all about his image and the public. Naruto realizes quickly after what he said and frowns apologetically. "Sorry."**_

 _ **"Beyond that," Sasuke ignores, forgetting what Naruto said, "It's about the fact that there's an Uchiha heir now." Naruto brings his head up from his watching the kids, realizing the weight over Sasuke's shoulders. "It'll change a lot of things if people find out; and not necessarily good changes for Sarada."**_


	20. On the Brink Pt1

**_Hello everyone!_**

 _ **First off I want to say thank you for being SO patient with this update! Super sorry for taking a while to get to it. My health hasn't been the best these past few weeks and I've been spending a lot of time in various hospitals and check ups. It's been pretty hectic haha - super sorry about that ;_; so I apologize in advance for irregular update times with the fanfic.**_

 **But working on this story is a nice temporary getaway that's always super fun, as all fanfiction is haha. And I'm super thankful for your reviews and messages of encouragement! Please enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 20: On the Brink Pt1**

 _ **The Subasa Gala is one of the most important events for upper class society, requiring the Uchihas, Uzumakis and their friends to attend. As the household prepares for Sarada's first red-carpet appearance to the public media, Sasuke meanwhile is still dealing with the revelation that he's her father. When high-end kidnappers come to the Gala, Sasuke's sense of fatherhood is tested, all while Sarada is coming to realize her unique relationship with Boruto.**_

* * *

By morning, I feel the biggest ache on my elbow. Only then do I realize it's because I was lying on it on the floor this whole time. I squint my face before pushing myself to sit up. I'm lying on Boruto's floor amidst a disorganized mess of bodies across the rug. All the boys are sprawled out, half covered in blankets that we must've all kicked off during the night. A bowl of spilt popcorn lies somewhere in between, and pillows are desperately clutched by everyone.

I chuckle to myself. What a sight. I take my phone out momentarily to take a picture of it all. The reality of me almost having left hit a little last night, and I'm really going to miss times like these when I _do_ have to go home one day. I'd like to remember them, exactly like this.

Hearing the click of the photo app, Boruto's eyes flicker open a bit a few feet away. "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," I whisper as to not wake anyone else.

Boruto yawns, quietly sitting up too. Inojin and Mitsuki are asleep sprawled between us. "It's cool," he yawns. I put my phone away and just continue to look around. This was my first sleepover, believe it or not. I never imagined it'd be in a mansion, and with a bunch of boys at that. I'll always treasure this moment. "What'chu thinking about?" Boruto asks, still just as quiet.

"It... still feels like a dream," I admit thoughtfully. "Last night? Finding out the truth about my mom and Sasuke finally? And having this sleepover with you guys?" I shake my head laughing quietly. "I'm just really happy. It's like this high, and I know it'll fade after a while but... I'm just really happy that my parents, despite how much pain they must have been in all these years, they really did love each other." I bite my lips before smiling again. "It's awesome."

My smiling is contagious. Boruto puts on a tired yet sincere grin as well for me. "I'm happy for you."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Meanwhile downstairs in the kitchen, Naruto and Sasuke sit exhausted at the table, their coffee cups untouched and still full. With all the extra mouths to feed Hinata had woken up a little earlier to start on breakfast, but she noticed the odd silence between the two men of the house - not that she would pry about it.

"So..." Naruto finally says, realizing they've been sitting in a daze for five minutes. "Did you sleep well?"

"Not particularly," Sasuke admits, just as dazed and tired. Naruto understood why. "I'm just still taking it in."

"Hm," Hinata speaks up, coming over with a small tray of cream and sugar for their coffees. "I don't know what you two went through yesterday to wake up worse than Boruto usually does, but," she smiles at Sasuke, "has anything bad happened?"

"Well, no-"

"Is anyone in trouble?"

"No."

Hinata grins at the Uchiha. "Then whatever happened, everything is going to be just fine then. Just keep going and things will turn out alright in the end. They always do." With that vague yet accurate advice, Naruto watches his wife walk away with the empty tray to head back to cooking.

Sasuke turns back to Naruto, eye bags still present. "I don't know how the hell you managed to marry a woman like her."

"Me neither," Naruto laughs, somewhat back to their old spirits. The two together take a sip of their coffee to wake themselves up, before hearing the stampede of footsteps coming down from the ballroom.

" _I smell food_!"

" _Dude stop shoving_!"

The flash of us kids barge into the kitchen, waking Sasuke and Naruto up completely. The boys completely surround Hinata, immediately helping her bring all the plates of cooked food over to the main table - god they're hungry. I'll admit, I am too.

I start pulling glasses out of the cabinets for everybody and help with setting up the table too. "Sarada get the forks and knives too!" Boruto calls from the table.

"Yeah!" I grin, joining this bandwagon of excitement. Hinata laughs, getting some more plates as well with me.

Between the back and forths of boys delivering plates of rice and bacon and eggs and ham and what not from the counter to the table, Sasuke can't help but look across the kitchen to me and Hinata getting the dishware together. She and I make a short but sweet exchange of words, making me laugh. Only now does Sasuke start to see the similarities from Sakura in me. The way my eyes crease when I laugh. My smile. The big wide eyes.

 _How the hell did I not see it before?_ Sasuke thinks to himself.

I rush over to the table and distribute the utensils to everyone as the boys start to bring in extra chairs to fit everybody. "Morning Naruto, morning Sasuke," I greet, putting utensils by their coffee cups.

"Good morning," Sasuke manages out with a half smile, but I'm gone already, putting more forks and knives on the other plates.

Naruto takes a good look at Sasuke, still staring me down discretely. "You're gonna have to hide it better than that if you wanna keep this 'status quo' we were talking about," Naruto teases, causing Sasuke to roll his eyes.

Itachi eventually enters the kitchen at the sound of the glass and chatter and clanking between materials at the table. "Thought I smelled something good," Itachi greets. "Lovely breakfast, Hinata."

"It's a special occasion," she grins, passing by.

"Good morning Itachi," I smile, passing by him as well. "Did you want some coffee?"

"I'd love some," Itachi smiles, ruffling my hair as I go on my way. Fair to say, Sasuke saw that as well. Seeing his own brother beside his own daughter, he noticed the more Uchiha-like-features I'd inherited. Itachi winks back at Sasuke, causing the former to glare. "Cranky already, little brother?"

"Yeah now," Sasuke notes, the jab clearly at Itachi.

Meanwhile Naruto sits in between everybody, munching inconspicuously on his toast. His eyes travel between the adults, Hinata trying to calm an oncoming argument between the Uchiha brothers, and us kids, starting to stuff our plates with Hinata's cooking. Only then does Naruto realize both sides know something the other doesn't - But he totally knows both sides' secrets, leaving him starting to feel pretty conflicted. _This is going to bite me in the ass one day I know it._

"This is probably the biggest breakfast spread my mom's ever made," Boruto comments, sitting beside me and Mitsuki.

"I mean it was a sleepover. There's like three extra mouths at the table," I point out. "Plus Itachi."

"We've never all slept over before actually," Mitsuki points out to me.

"Seriously?" I scrunch up while eating a piece of bacon. "You guys never slept over at each other's places before?" You guys have these giant homes; why wouldn't you be sleeping over at each other's places?

Shikadai shrugs. "It was just never something we thought to do. Seemed like a pretty childish idea to be honest."

"But it was really fun actually," Inojin smiles at me. "We'll have to do it again some time." These poor spoiled brat souls.

"Are you guys all ready for the Gala tonight?" Hinata brings up, taking her seat across Naruto.

I hear rounds of lazy yesses around the table, and I have too look around for a moment. I have no idea what Hinata's talking about. It takes a moment for someone to meet my gaze and realize I'm out of the loop - luckily from Shikadai. "Ah," he clears his throat. "Sorry, we're so used to it that it's just something we expect everyone to know already."

I swear if this is another rich-people thing. "Know what?"

"Every year on this date the Subasa Museum holds a gala downtown," Naruto informs me. "In this case think of it as the pre-ball to the Ball we'll be hosting in a few days."

"Fashion focused, and only the famous and rich get invited to go," Itachi adds to it, sipping his coffee. "If it isn't obvious, what you wear is very important."

"The Subasa Gala," I utter, finding the term kind of familiar. If it's fashion-y, maybe I heard of it from Mom at some point in time.

"All our families are going, actually," Mitsuki notes to me.

"And my dad is the stylist for the Uchiha household this year," Inojin notes to me. "The Uchihas and the Uzumakis go together every year, and my dad is usually always the stylist for you guys to the event."

"He's cool," Boruto nods, assuring me. "It's mostly an adult party, but everyone does look pretty awesome every year."

"Thanks for the warning," I scoff, drinking my juice.

"Sorry. We don't really think much of it so we never bother talking about it when it's coming up," Shikadai apologizes. "We forgot it'd be your first Gala."

"How's it any different from the events I've been to already?"

"It's big," the boys all recite together, almost plainly and in a 'duh' way. Huh.

"They're not wrong," Naruto speaks up all the way from the head of the table. "The way corporations and families present themselves at this gala is no laughing matter. At least to us adults it's a pretty serious event. When you go, you're not only representing this family, but Uchiha Enterprises."

"And in your case, Sarada," Itachi adds, "Since you're under Sasuke's wing you'll be under tight scrutiny from people meeting you for the first time." That's a lot of pressure.

"She doesn't have to go," Sasuke speaks up, catching everyone's attention. Suddenly everyone's heads turn down to Sasuke, who glares at the sudden stares. "It's not like the other parties I've taken you to, Sarada. The Gala can be a lot of pressure for you if you're with me."

"No, I want to go," I speak up, and Sasuke looks skeptical. "I know I won't just be some cute stand-in to make you look good this time. I want to support you. I live in the Uchiha Mansion, so I might as well start acting like it and present myself like such."

Sasuke seems sincerely surprised at my answer, and Itachi smirks. "Spoken like a true Uchiha," Itachi smiles.

Naruto chokes on his coffee across him, and I feel a slight flare in my nostrils. My eyes look anywhere but at the adults. I hope he meant that in a joking manner. Now there's this huge wave of tension at the breakfast table, with all eyes looking panicked and away from one another. Hinata looks somewhat suspicious of everyone's sudden odd behavior, while a now very alert Sasuke glares at his older brother.

"Well she's standing in as your prodigy. It's only appropriate she act like it," Itachi goes alone. Oh my god Itachi's trying to stress me out on purpose I swear.

Eventually the tension goes away, and breakfast resumes normally, thanks to Naruto's quick and lively subject change to ramen of all things. Naruto, god - I forget he's in the loop now too. I elbow Boruto at some point during the meal that we should talk to his dad and straighten a few things out before the gala tonight.

And so, after breakfast, all the guys' rides come to pick them up so they can prepare for the evening at their own homes with their own stylists. Itachi of course stays behind to help Hinata with the dishes, much to Sasuke and Naruto's chargain. However on Naruto's way out, Boruto and I immediately run after him.

"Dad wait!"

"Yeah?-WHOA-!" Naruto gets dragged all the way into a side close across the ballroom by Boruto and me.

The tiny storage closet is full of tiny folded towels and baskets of things with a tiny light from above. We're all decently close together, but Naruto being the biggest of us seems the most cramped. "Guys what the hell are you-?"

"Dad you have no idea what we found out!"

"There was this library!"

"And these letters!"

"And we found out about my dad and my mom's car accident!"

"And that they were lied to so they would be separated and everything!"

"Sasuke doesn't even know he HAS a daughter!"

"All this time Itachi knew everything! That's why he came to the mansion! To see Sarada!"

"Whoa whoa whoa WHOA," Naruto holds up, his brain running haywire from the back and forth explanation nonstop. "When did all this come up? How'd you guys-? Itachi? W-When-?"

"Yesterday," I answer. "Itachi told me everything."

 _This fucking guy._ "W-What exactly did he tell you?" Naruto stammers uncomfortably.

"We just told you Dad, e-ve-ry-thing!" Boruto reaffirms.

"How my parents actually loved each other," I smile, excited to tell the story again, even if it is the third or fourth time. "My grandma and Itachi saved me, and sent my mom and me to live out of the country while dad stayed here to run the Uchiha Company. He just, doesn't know about me."

Naruto exhales, sitting on a nearby crate. So much for keeping the status quo. His poor conscience. "So.. you're gonna tell Sasuke all this right?"

"NO!" Boruto and I react in a panic, a little too in sync and rather loudly. It startles Naruto back that he bumps into a small shelf. Some towels fall over onto his head and his lap.

"I mean no," I re-say in a calmer, more apologetic manner. "I really don't want anything major to change right now. It'd suck so bad if Sasuke reacted badly and sent me home before I can think of what to do."

"What Sasuke won't-"

"Promise me, Naruto," I beg, taking the man's hands and holding them up with mine. My eyes are a little sparky, wide and fully aware of this situation. "TRIPLE promise me that you're not to say a word to Sasuke."

Naruto sweats, thinking of all the problems that could be avoided if everyone just came clean to each other. Right now. Reluctantly the man sighs, cornered once again by complicated people. "I triple promise not to tell Sasuke," Naruto unwillingly agrees, all unenjoyment evident on his face.

"Thank you thank you thank you," I say, squeezing his hands before letting go and making my way out of the closet.

"Thanks Dad you rock!" Boruto adds, rushing after me. The door shuts behind and Naruto's left behind in the minute-long event's wake, still a wreck sitting on this poor crate. Once it all sets in, Naruto holds his head in his hands before grabbing a towel, and screaming a muffled and angry yell into it. "MMPHHAAAAAGAGGGHHHH!"

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

" _Be on the look out for these men. They are armed and dangerous_ ," says a radio man from my laptop during a break in the music. I'm on the phone right now, so I don't hear it, but beforehand I was looking up past pictures of the Subasa Gala just to see what the people could look like. " _Any tips leading to the arrest of these escaped criminals will be heavily rewarded. It's advised to stay inside past dark and keep all doors locked_."

"Yeah, I'll be going down to the gala tonight," I tell Chouchou over the phone, pacing around my room looking for my glasses. I've just taken my shower, so I'm in a robe and my hair up in a towel. I put my frames down somewhere - I just can't remember.

"OMGEEEE!" Chouchou screams from the phone. I have to pull it away suddenly, but that's how she is. "Are you serious?! GIRL! How did you not know what that was when it was mentioned?! Being invited to that party is like, every girl's dream! AND YOU'RE GOING AS SASUKE'S DAUGHTER!"

"Sasuke's 'prodigy', that's different," I correct. Though I wish I was going as his daughter. Aha, found my glasses under my bed.

"What're you going to wear?"

"I don't know. They said we get a stylist who picks how we look," I admit, returning to my laptop. I turn off the radio station I was listening to and return to the search images I saved. "The costumes are pretty, uh, extravagant."

"It's fashion, Sarada. Not costumes," Chouchou scoffs playfully. Haha. "You sure you can handle mingling with these people, Sarada? Now's not the time to be the shy and awkward girl I've seen on the tabloids."

"I've gotten better at people-mingling," I defend honestly. "I'm ready for this." I have to be. With this grand ball we're hosting at the mansion, maybe this gala will be good practice. I am an Uchiha, I better start acting like it.

"You're not afraid of your mom showing up?" Chouchou asks worried. "She is a pretty up-there fashion designer."

"She won't be there," I assure, turning in my chair. "I thought about it, and I do remember hearing about the Subasa Gala back home. I think it's the same event my mom gets invited to every year but she always turns them down."

"Your mom turns down invitations to the Subasa Gala?" Chouchou says in disbelief. "What a woman."

"Yeah," I scoff, frowning. I always thought it was because Mom felt she was too above flying across the world just to party with the rich and famous - and that she'd rather spend her free time with me at home. Maybe it was because she just wanted to stay out of Japan all these years, avoiding Sasuke - who would surely be at the Gala every year as the richest bachelor in the country.

Then there's a knock on the door. "Sorry Chouchou, gotta go," I hang up. "Yes?"

Boruto opens the door. "Inojin's dad is here-" Boruto stops, seeing the girl sitting in just a robe and clearly fresh out of the shower. He turns red immediately and I instantly wish I'd gotten dressed before saying he could see me. I didn't think this through."Um, h-he has all our clothes ready but he wanted to meet you here first, i-if that's okay."

"Sure uh, let me get dressed first and you can send him in," I try to say as composed as possible. Sarada you idiot. Boruto keeps his eyes down and shuts the door quickly, and I let a heavy breath out. I can't believe that just happened.

Nonetheless I suck it up and get dressed in my most basic clothes as fast as I can. Within two minutes, another knock on my door comes while I'm combing my hair. "Come in!"

Instead of Boruto, a tall pale-faced man in a fancy yet moderate suit is standing at my door, in a pretty tall stance. "You must be Sarada," he smiles, coming in. There's something about his body language that reminds me of Mitsuki somehow. "My name is Sai. My wife and Inojin's told me a lot about you."

 _I hope not too much_. "It's nice to finally meet your sir," I approach, offering my hand for handshake.

He chuckles, returning the handshake. "Curt. Most young girls offer me a curtsy, but this is a pretty firm handshake. I'm impressed."

"Sorry, must be the commoner in me," I joke, rather light-hearted. I'm trying to not be as awkward and shy around strangers this time around.

"I'm used to dressing the Uzumakis and Uchihas for the gala, so I have their measurements and everything already."

"Did you need to take mine?"

"Hn, no. I had them sent to me prior to today to make your outfit."

"You make them yourself?" I ask, intrigued.

"I design couture," Sai tells me. "However when it comes to the Gala, I design to personality. I've met Hinata, Naruto, Boruto and Sasuke - even Itachi - but I've been meaning to meet you for quite some time. I've read about you. You're more charming in person."

I give off a sheepish grin. "Sorry if my tabloid photos and articles aren't as flattering. Sasuke tries his best with me."

"And he's succeeding. You're very pleasant to conversate with," he compliments. "I would have loved to have met you before designing your outfit for tonight. All I had to gather of your person were stories from my family and Sasuke."

"Sasuke told you about me?"

"Of course," Sai assures. "All good things, no worries." I want to know so bad what Sasuke said. Sai kneels down to my height, analyzing me almost. "I'll tell you what I think you are, and you tell me if I'm right."

"Okay."

Sai pauses in thought, narrowing his eyes. "My son and his friends are very fond of you, you know. Takes a certain person to tame those guys. And Sasuke as well. He's a very hard shell that I've never seen anybody crack. You must be persistent, and open." He pushes some hair out of my face and behind my head. "You have history. You've come from somewhere no blue-blood has ever been to, and you carry that with a strong grace and pride."

I blush, not used to hearing so many compliments in one go. At least I think they're compliments. "I'm not a lot of those things really. In on way you're right. I'm no blue-blood. I'm usually just a shadow on the wall to be honest. I just copy whatever Boruto does so Sasuke doesn't freak out at me."

"Even more so than most people I've met, you're sincere," Sai continues. "Believe me, you're anything but a shadow on the wall. In fact," Sai stands. "Tonight, you'll be the star of the gala." My eyes lift in question, and in wonder and awe. Sai has a very poetic way of speaking actually. "Sasuke tells me he'll be formally introducing you to the public at a Ball here in the mansion in a few days. This Gala will be preparatory to that. And so, you'll know everything that it means to be an Uchiha - and prove it not just to this household, but to every snotty face at this party as well."

Speechless at first, I realize not only did he diss the rich people I've come to make fun of, but at the fact that he actually makes me feel pretty confident about tonight.

"You have nothing to worry about, Sarada. Leave everything to me," Sai bows, kissing my knuckles.

"Then I'm all yours," I laugh, ready to take on whatever Sai thinks I should dress as.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Hours later, by 6 o'clock, the entire family has been dressed and ready for the gala. "You look so handsome Boruto," Hinata compliments, taking photos of her son with her phone. She too was all dressed, but she couldn't care less.

Boruto stands at the base of the mansion's staircase in his custom tailored suit, Shimmering and silver, with the most beautiful onyx embroidery all over. The cuffs and collar fit handsomely, almost making him appear older. His hair, as wild as usual, was combed and somewhat cleaned, giving him a more mature offset look. A bit of make up to hide the pubescent tiredness behind his age, but nonetheless a clean cut teen ready for the Gala.

Naruto and Sasuke walk in from the kitchen, giving Hinata her space with her son. Like him, Hinata was gracefully dressed in a beautiful lilac gown that puffed up and disappeared downward from her waist, puffy white and silver flowers adorning all over the dress for extra volume. Bubbly and graceful, befitting the Uzumaki mother. And unlike her normal shoes, for the gala she was given sparkling silver diamond heels that strung up along her legs.

"Your kid cleaned up well this year," Sasuke comments, already also dressed - sporting a indigo/navy suit with a black lapel and steel black button down shirt underneath. His hair is combed straight and his shoes shinier than ever. Naruto, the ever-spirited person he is, was dressed to match his family, sporting a suit similar to Boruto's, but a bit more decked out and with a similar floral pattern to those of his wife's. His normally spiky hair is slicked back, and his oxford shoes a fun white and silver color.

"Sai went all out," Naruto agrees, still trying to 'fix' his hair, though it ends up returning to how it normally is. "Sarada's the last one and we're good to go."

"Good."

Naruto makes a face. "Aren't you the least bit excited about how Sarada's going to look?"

Sasuke doesn't respond, though he does wonder what Sai will do. Every year the Uzumakis have always matched each other. Sasuke's never really had any family to coordinate fashion with - even Itachi when he came on his own wore his own attire. In fact Itachi had already left for the Gala earlier on. Still, Sasuke had to be careful to not show any different emotion than usual that could expose his knowing the secret. And Sasuke's seen me on multiple gowns before - what could be different this time around.

He was dead wrong.

"She's ready," Sai announces, coming around the top of the steps. "Come out, Sarada."

Naruto and Sasuke glance up from their conversation, and Hinata puts her camera down momentarily. Boruto turns around, not sure what to expect.

With a deep breath, I come out into sight at the top of the stairs, keeping in mind my posture, and my footing. "Oh my..." Sasuke stares.

"Oh my god," Boruto mutters.

I can't tell by their shocked expressions if I look good or bad. I look different, for sure.

I realize I must be matching with Sasuke. Like him Sai gave me a navy/indigo color scheme for my dress. And instead of a normal fashioned gown like I've worn to many different social events, Sai designed this one 'to make me look fierce'. It was form fitting, and flared out slightly past my thighs. The beautiful satin sparkles this almost black sparkle that forms a sweetheart around my chest, with a sheath that comes into a solid triangular collar around my neck, and down towards near my elbows. The black sparkle becomes denser around my chest and at the end of my sleeves. To contrast the dark yet glamorous dress, Sai gave me white diamond jewelry, simple ones. Earrings, thumb rings, and nude pumps for modesty. He gave me contacts to replace my glasses for the night, and with gel slicked my hair back flat.

My make up isn't anything too extreme, since I'm still a child. The only extra he put in was the shape of my eyeliner, and a metallic silver highlight on my cheekbones. But he put basic make up to make my face come forward in a way that 'makes people look me in the eye' as he describes. I wasn't sure what that meant, but it just work because I can see into everyone's eyes from up here. 'Young like a girl, but badass like Sasuke' as Sai described it to me.

My once confident expression slowly fades into uncertainty as I reach the bottom of the stairs. "Do I look okay?" I ask everyone, since no one's said anything.

"Oh Sarada of course," Hinata speaks up first, returning to taking pictures on her camera.

"W-Wow," Boruto manages out next to me.

"You don't sugar coat anything. Do I look alright?" I ask.

"Y-You look great! Good- I mean," Boruto bites his tongue, shaking his head. "You look beautiful," he finishes. A bit of color comes into my cheeks as I smile and look away.

"No way," Naruto laughs, coming up closer with Sasuke. Both men look content. "I can't believe that's you, Sarada. You look so badass!"

"Like an Uchiha," Sai commentates. He looks at Sasuke. "So, did I do good?"

"You did good," Sasuke approves with a nod. He looks at me with this smile that hasn't seemed to disappear yet. Like he's proud. "So, you think you can own the look and act like it at the gala?"

As if I have something to prove to Sasuke, a competitive smile comes on. "You know it."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Sai's limo with Ino and Inojin comes to pick him up, after which our limo comes right behind and we follow shortly behind. The limo ride feels too short, and I worry about swearing into my dress too obviously. Did I put on enough deodorant? Is there enough perfume to mask it if otherwise? Is my make up smudging from my sweat? God, is this what older girls go through all the time?

"Hey," Sasuke whispers, sitting beside me. He holds my hand, making me freeze a little. "You'll be fine."

"I know," I self-reassure, remembering to breath in and out. Across us sits the Uzumakis, with Hinata and Boruto arguing with Naruto to stop messing with his hair. "I've just never been on a red-carpet before."

"It's easier than it looks," Sasuke tells me, squeezing my hand still. "When we get there, the Uzumakis exit first. Then me, and I take your hand as you come out. I won't be holding your hand when we walk down, but we'll be side by side from the moment we step out of the limo to when we're inside and away from the cameras." He chuckles. "I'm sure Sai gave you better red-carpet advice than me, though."

"No, what you said helps a lot," I say thankfully.

"We're here," Naruto announces, as the line of limos circle around the museum. One by one I see the crowd around the red carpet arrive closer and closer. I even see Inojin's family go down. And too soon enough, it's our turn. A man comes to open the door, and Naruto and Hinata are the first to be seen. "See you guys on the other side," Naruto winks, exiting first.

I watch from behind the tinted windows as he takes Hinata's hand, who carries herself and her gown out of the vehicle - shortly followed by Boruto who suavely escorts himself out between his parents. They stand momentarily together before proceeding down the aisle and out of sight.

"Our turn," Sasuke whispers. "You'll do great, I'll be right with you."

Suddenly my stomach is running laps with my liver, and Sasuke scoots down to come out of the limo. Screams emit from the outside, and the flashes of cameras feel hotter and brighter, even from just the doorway. Do it Sarada do it.

And coming out of the safety wall of the limo, I take Sasuke's open hand with one and my dress with the other, and step out all my own. My eyes lower first to make sure I dont lose my footing, and just like when Sai instructed, when I look up, my stare if fierce.

They're just cameras.

They're just people.

In the end...?

I'm an Uchiha.

I stand proud and tall beside Sasuke as he hesitantly lets go of my hand. We don't have to pose - we stand beside one another and that in itself is fierce enough. It's hard to make eye contact with anybody through these contrasting dark and lights and flashes and shadows, but in sync Sasuke and I start walking down the red carpet together.

I march in stride, thinking like my mother when I accompanied her to photoshoots. Her graceful stare, her body language and stance all screaming 'I own me'. And for the first time in my life, I feel like I finally do.

"Ohmygod it's Sasuke!"

"Is that really the girl he took in?"

"She's so hot!"

"I wish I was her when I was younger!"

"Look how scary they look together!"

"THEY'RE ON FIRE!"

It's hard to ignore all the voices going down the carpet, but eventually we pass a few security guards into the museum corridors and the camera flashes wind down, and Sasuke and I are whisked into a somewhat smaller denser crowd inside - with air condition. Thank god.

Sasuke's hand touches the small of my back, keeping me close. "Good job." And finally I allow myself to smile in relief. Looking up at him, I'm happily surprised to see him smiling too.

Most of everyone is convened here in the lobby, slowly making way into the main party room where the gala is to be held. We see the Uzumakis standing somewhere in the middle of it all. It's hard to ignore their 3-in-1 starlight-color scheme. Sasuke meets Itachi nearby, and Naruto escorts Hinata into the main room arm in arm. "Guess it's your job to escort me in?" I ask Boruto, who eventually offers his arm. I have to admit, he looks pretty handsome tonight. In a not-a-brat sort of way.

"My mom told me to or she'd ground me," Boruto admit slyly, and I stifle a laugh. "Your posture better be right or you'll make me look bad."

"Oh please," I scoff, my hand hanging around his forearm as we come in line to enter the main room. "You better keep up with me."

Boruto laughs in return, not expecting that burst of confidence. When it's our turn to enter, we enter this new work of dark lights and music. It's like a club, party, ball, rave thing. This must be as close to Hollywood as it gets this summer. I purse my lips together to prevent myself from gaping open at everything.

"You and I should stick together until we find the guys," Boruto whispers close to my ear. "It's easy to get lost in all this. Our parents usually go around together so we should stay close by. This may be a party but we still represent our family businesses."

"United front," I surmise. "Gotchu."

I tighten my grasp on Boruto's arm as we walk through the dense crowd. The amount of people is a little claustrophobic, but Boruto never moves too fast for me to keep up in my shoes. He looks back every couple seconds to make sure he's still holding onto me, and then we find our families.

Hinata's still holding onto Naruto's arm, and Naruto and Sasuke are talking with a few other men who I assume are business heads like my dad. They have the same eyes as Hinata, I notice.

"Your stock performances are no surprise, Sasuke," one man says, shaking his hand.

"And your schools I assume have been doing well," Sasuke goes on.

"We hear a lot about your graduates' accomplishments. Many intern for the Uchiha Company in the city," Naruto reports.

"No surprise you keep track of that," another woman with the pale lavender eyes says in a little stuck-up way. "You must feel pretty lucky serving under the Uchiha name."

"Auntie be polite," Hinata frowns. So they're related?

"Hinata know your place," another old man comments. "You are first and foremost a Hyuuga, don't you forget that."

I can see Hinata and Naruto hold something back. They're making the same face I make when I accompany Sasuke to dinners and parties, when I hate whoever it is we're talking to. "Naruto doesn't serve under me; he's my business partner," Sasuke interjects in correction before the conversation can take any more a negative turn. "We work closely together running my company."

"Right right," the man says, in a somewhat disregarding tone. I sneer a little. What a stuck up group of people. "I must say, Sasuke, I do hope you end up adopting that little girl you've been bringing up this past summer."

"Sarada's her name," Sasuke informs. "She's a fast learner."

"That's a relief," the woman says. "There's been rumors for years you've been grooming the Uzumaki child as a surrogate to take over your company one day, what with you not settling down and bearing any heirs. And you must to admit, only a true blue blood born from a noble family is worthy of inheriting such a company."

 _Is this lady serious?_ My mouth hangs open a little. Naruto's right there.

"I know what you're thinking," Boruto whispers, as if sensing my annoyance. "You've gotta hold your tongue, it's not our place."

"Why because we're kids?" I whisper back.

"Now hold on a minute," Hinata steps forward, letting go of Naruto's arm for the first time. "He's still my son, and your nephew let me remind you."

"Despite his schooling and upbringing, he'll never be one of us," the woman says harshly and low. I feel a small jab in my chest from hearing such a blunt statement. I look to Boruto to see if he's okay, but his face is as stoic and stern as it's always been. Unreactive. How can he not be offended and just take it? The Boruto I know would never take crap like that.

"Yo Sasuke, Naruto!" a man calls. Across a few feet away are a couple adults. I recognize them as Shikadai and Inojin's parents, meaning the guys can't be too far away.

Using this opportunity Sasuke excuses all of us from the Hyuugas and we migrate over and away from them. I'm more than happy to be away from those people, but i'm still a little in shock that that just happen.

Ino and Sai are arm in arm together in this modern sleek shiny black matching color, while Shikadai's parents, Shikamaru and Temari I think it was, matched in gradient colors from pale blue to dark violet. Everyone looked amazing, for sure.

"We thought you guys would be around here somewhere," Ino grins.

Shikadai's dad looks down to Boruto and I. I've only met his dad once in passing, but I can see now how he looks a lot like Shikadai. "If you're looking for the boys, they're right there." A few feet away I can see some shorter heads convened together. Without a second to waste Boruto and I speed walk over to the comfort of our friends.

"Guys!" Boruto grins, glad to see them.

I realize how cleaned up they all are too, and matching their parents. Shikadai is in a fancy open front suit that matches the gradient color of his mother's satin gown. Inojin's also in all black, with a futuristic princely attire. And Mitsuki has an almost traditional yet fashiony garb that's, a little hard to describe. Not that I think about it, I haven't seem Mitsuki's parents at all yet.

"Sarada is that you?" Inojin squints, smiling at me.

"Whoa," Mitsuki notices, his eyes wider than I've ever seen them. "You look scary."

"Good scary," Shikadai smiles, holding a cup of soda I think. "Welcome to the club."

"Thanks," I smile back, afraid to let go of Boruto still lest I be swept away by the adult bodies surrounding us still. "This gala is, something."

"Boruto, can you come here a moment?" Naruto calls from the distance.

"Duty calls," Boruto says apologetically, and slowly we unlink so he can leave. Boruto gives this look to the guys, as if telling them to watch me, before he disappears to the adults. I can't help but wonder if he's gone off to endure more badmouthing from those jerks from earlier.

"Hey," I whisper to the guys. "Are people always so rude to Naruto at stuff like this?"

The guys look a little surprised by my question, and look at one another first, as if wondering who amongst them would be the one to answer me. I wait patiently until Mitsuki looks back at me with a thoughtful frown. "Everyone knows out of the Uzumakis and the Hyuugas, the Hyuugas are the one with money. Technically, Naruto was a commoner growing up."

No way. "For real?"

Mitsuki nods, and the two of us look back at the adults. Naruto and Hinata are talking with a celebrity couple, Naruto's hands proudly on his son's shoulders during their talk. "His mom's side of the family never particularly approved of Naruto, so they often put him down. And Boruto as well. Because of that, Naruto's name goes back and forth on the spectrum around these things."

"That's pretty messed up."

"It's how things are," Shikadai cuts in, coming up beside us. "Boruto doesn't let any of it get to him in public, but he secretly feels like he always has something to prove when it comes to family business with the Hyuugas; not that he'll ever fight back about it."

"Why not?"

"He'd get his mom in trouble," Inojin finishes. It's hard to argue for that. The world of the rich is still hard for me to understand.

"Hey Sarada," Itachi appears from the crowd. "Mind coming with Sasuke and me for a while?"

"Yeah of course," I nod before looking back at the guys. "Excuse me." I follow Itachi along into the crowd before finding Sasuke talking to yet another new group of people. It's probably going to be like this for a while, us representing the Uchiha name to people who only put on acts for us. I was looking forward to this at first, but now I can't wait for it to be over.

"Sarada, this is Aldridge from the B-On Media Group."

"Your girl looks stunning," a jolly round old man tells Sasuke. "I've seen your progress over the summer, young lady. You've taken a turn from a little school girl into a young woman quite fast. Well done!"

"Oh hush Aldridge," his frumpy wife stops. "Don't spoil the girl. It's not like she's the Uchiha heir." God I wish I could say it. "She's just a commoner on vacation here to make the Uchihas look more family friendly to the public-"

"Sasuke's been a wonderful caretaker, mind you," I speak up, cutting the rude woman off. All their eyes are on me, and I feel that old confidence and fire back in my chest. I won't stand for this down talk anymore, from anybody. "And I'm not here to make anybody look like anything else. Sasuke has taken the time and money to invest in my stay for me and me alone - not for this circus of a media you think we're playing along to." I step forward to the couple, civil yet stern. "Please don't speak ill of the Uchihas for bringing me up when no one else would. It doesn't take ten years of primary schooling to know how imprudent and unprofessional you're being."

The horrified woman looks like I've just stomped on her foot and spit in her face. Without anything else to say, she huffs and turns herself and her dress all the way around and marches off. Her husband scoffs in a laugh and smiles at me and Sasuke and Itachi. "You've got yourself a wall-flower turned fire-starter here, Sasuke. Definitely raising her like an Uchiha. Keep up the good work."

I like him. The jolly old man turns to probably go and find his angry wife, and with them gone, Itachi starts laughing for probably the first time I've ever heard him. Sasuke ignores his brother with an eyeroll and turns me around. I expected Sasuke to be mad, but he looks amused. "You didn't have to defend me."

"I'm not in trouble?"

"If you had an allowance I'd give you a raise," Itachi laughs, leaning on Sasuke a little to casually for Sasuke's taste.

Sasuke shoves him off. "When did you learn to speak so eloquently like that?" he asks me impressed.

"Boruto and the guys," I mutter, suddenly super shy. So much for that fire I had ten seconds ago. "Sorry if I spoke out of line. I just couldn't stand her talking down to you like that."

"Not everybody likes me. It's to be expected," Sasuke sympathizes. "But don't apologize. That was great, actually."

"Did I make you look good at least?"

"Oh definitely," Sasuke laughs. "It looks like I've raised a badass."

"You have," I agree, holding my arms out a little to show off the dress. "That and I have to look like I am."

"Well you're succeeding," Sasuke nods in approval. He looks almost proud. "You're not in trouble, and you weren't wrong. If you can keep talking the way you did actually we can get through tonight real fast."

"I can do that," I smile.

After that, I walk around with Sasuke and Itachi to various groups, from politicians to celebrities and other rich families. Most of them went very well, but at the slightest mention of anything negative I didn't like, such as downtalk about the Uchihas or even the Uzumakis for whatever reason, or anybody really, I was there to interject almost automatically. I never did like gossip all that much, and I come from the kind of place where if you're going to shit-talk somebody, you do it to their face.

Here, everyone's so... not, that. And it irked me enough.

"Sasuke's girl is sure getting around," Sai comments to his lovely wife. The couple walks around with Shikamaru and Temari, noticing a couple adults talking all at once with me while standing my ground as straight and professionally as possible. "I'm impressed."

"Everyone's dying to meet her," Temari notes, also in arm with Shikamaru.

Opposite the room, the boys are all together by a fountain, over watching the Uchiha representatives go around. An attractive trio we were. Powerful looking. Confident. "She's definitly come into living in our lifestyle," Mitsuki notes. "You'd never know she grew up a commoner."

Boruto chuckles, also somewhat proud. "She has no problem with her posture anymore, that's for sure."

"It's so weird seeing them all together," Inojin comments. "Three Uchihas walking together. It's so freaky."

"Yeah," Shikadai admits with an uncomfortable sigh. "I didn't even know Sasuke had a brother, much less a daughter. Now here they all are." Boruto had to admit, his friend was right. _She's definitely an Uchiha by blood._

"So," another boy quite well dressed says. He looks about their age as he walks up to the pack of boys all alone, a small smug look on his face. "You must be the Uzumaki kid who mooches off the Uchihas."

Boruto wasn't too unused to greetings like that at places like this, but it stilled annoyed him all the more. "Who the hell are you?"

"Izumi," the boy introduces. He has almost platinum blond hair, fluffy and combed to the side. His stylist dressed him in a textured patterned suit. A pretty boy type. "I heard the Uchihas were housing a Cinderella. Thought she'd be with you but I guess even an adopted commoner has better things to attend to."

Boruto keeps his sneer on the guy. Didn't like him at all. "She's busy with Sasuke," Shikadai cuts in, before an unintentional fight can break out. This Izumi guy was pushing all of Boruto's buttons, for sure on purpose.

"Izumi!" a woman's voice calls. A couple feet away is a beautiful blonde woman in a swan-like gown, standing beside me and my uncle and father. "Come here! I have someone I'd like you to meet!"

I stand between Itachi and Sasuke with this beautifully dressed woman, though her shrill voice sends me an almost cringy expression. I try to be polite and retain it to an eye twitch. There's another boy I don't know talking with Boruto and the others, and I can't tell what kind of atmosphere they have. It looks tense.

"Coming mother!" Izumi calls back. He bids the boys this look I can't see before coming over. He looks sweet, but the guys' defensive and hostile expressions leave me wary. Before I know it he's standing beside the gowned woman at eye level with me.

"This is my son, Izumi," the woman who's name I learned was Kanna, introduces.

"You've grown," Sasuke says first. I guess they all know each other, from the lack of introductions. Most of these families and couples came with this twenty-second long introduction of who they were and whatever fancy title came with their names. Is she a friend of Sasuke's? "Welcome back to Japan, Kanna."

"Always a pleasure to return."

"Kanna!" Ino's voice echoes out of no where. She comes up with Sai trailing behind. "Look who's back, what a surprise," Ino smiles with this passive-aggressiveness in the undertones of her voice. Oh boy. She does not like Kanna at all. "What're you doing here?"

"Business," the woman replies, unphased. "We'll talk again, Sasuke." She peers down at me. "It was nice meeting you Sarada."

"Likewise," I reply in formality. Right after, the band that's set up begins playing something close to a fancy waltz (from what Boruto taught me).

"If you don't mind, Miss Sarada," the boy Izumi steps up. "Would you honor me with a dance?"

I was a little taken back from the question, not expecting so. I haven't danced very much, even though I was taught to. The last time I danced with anyone was with Mitsuki at my first ball, or even with Boruto. And that was ages ago.

I looked up at Sasuke, almost expecting him to nudge me forward as it'd be impolite to refuse. However his indifferent expression and glance down at me told me otherwise. It was totally up to me.

 _It's probably best to accept._ "Sure." I take his offered hand and he leads us out into an open area. "Oh how precious," Kanna adores, though Sasuke remains unreactive, and merely leaves the woman's presence. She's left more than unsatisfied with the lack of attention Sasuke gave.

"You're much more beautiful in person than in those tabloids," Izumi says during our dance. "Especially with how your stylist dressed you tonight. I would have never recognized you."

I narrow my eyes. Was that supposed to be a compliment? "Um, thanks?"

"How does it feel? Living with the Uchihas for a whole summer?" he goes on. "It must be pretty amazing compared to what you're used to back home. If you ever came to visit me at my mansion though it'd be much more impressive a time."

Part of me feels like he's trying to flirt, but really doesn't realize how... snotty he sounds. It's off putting. "I'm quite happy where I am actually."

"You mean with me?" he smiles slyly. Oh my god.

Instantly I stop our waltz, catching him off guard. "Don't overstep yourself with me. It's rude."

"My apologies," he recovers after a few seconds of shock, not that I believe that apology. "Perhaps we can-"

"May I cut in," a lower voice interjects. From around the crowd of couples dancing the waltz, Boruto shows up. He steps up closer to me, as if starting a wall between Izumi and I without coming between us. "She promised me a dance after her introductions with Sasuke were over."

That was a lie, but I had no complaints here. There's a stare down between Izumi and Boruto that doesn't look too hostile, but it was definitely tense. "I'd love to," I say first before anything can happen. At that, Izumi backs off and returns to the crowd. Closely right after Boruto comes up in front of me, taking up the spot Izumi once stood and pulling me close - as if to reserve and save me from any more guys like that. "Thank you," I emphasize in a clear whisper. "That guy was getting on my nerves."

"You and the rest of us," Boruto mentions, his eyes look up for a moment pointing out the guys by the fountain, watching like hawks. "Who was he?"

"Some rich woman's son," I surmise, not too sure actually. I'm just glad he's gone. "Out of all the rich jerks I met tonight he;s surprisingly the worst."

"What'd he say to you?"

Resisting the urge to roll my eyes. "Let's just say it makes Mitsuki's accidental rudeness sound royalty-appropriate." We both laugh, imagining so. I have to admit, dancing with Boruto like this felt unusually... nice. He's a lot more cleaned up than I've ever seen him before, plus we're completely different people than when we last danced together. "I meant to say earlier back home, but you look really nice Boruto."

"You think?" he grins. I nod, smiling too. "You do, too."

"You're just saying that because I gave you the compliment."

"No way," he denies. "And the guys agree. You look great." There's this sincerity in the way he says it that causes me to blush. "You know," he starts, "you look a lot like Sasuke without your glasses."

My face must be super red and warm by now. I don't know which comment feels more flattering to me. "Thank you..."

Further away, Sasuke and Naruto stand finally alone in together's company for refreshments (after Itachi escorted Hinata away, annoying the two men left behind). Still, the two dads watch their children a level below on the dance floor, dancing together and conversating with laughter. It was definitely a sight with their newfound knowledge.

"So your kid knows huh?" Sasuke asks discretely to his partner.

Naruto nods, a flat smile on his face as he plays with his champagne glass. "At least she has a friend she can talk to about all this. Are you sure you don't want to tell Sarada about you knowing?"

Sasuke shakes his head. "Not yet. If it gets out who she is it'll just mean trouble for her and the media."

"You mean you and the media?" Sasuke looks offended his friend would think this was all about his image and the public. Naruto realizes quickly after what he said and frowns apologetically. "Sorry."

"Beyond that," Sasuke ignores, forgetting what Naruto said, "It's about the fact that there's an Uchiha heir now." Naruto brings his head up from his watching the kids, realizing the weight over Sasuke's shoulders. "It'll change a lot of things if people find out; and not necessarily good changes for Sarada." Sasuke keeps his gaze on the waltzing below him. "It's best to keep her out of it for as long as possible, if at all."

Meanwhile, three other guests to the Gala stand nearby in the distance, watching over the party in matching masquerade masks. "Get the car ready, Kin," one of the three order. "We'll grab the target."

At some point after Boruto's and my waltz, I decide to go to the bathroom and say that I'll meet Boruto with the guys shortly after. He offers to escort me to the ladies room but out of pride and stubborness I insist I can do it on my own. I realize almost every female in the room is on a man's arm, never left alone - and I wanted to just... not be that. So after I assure Boruto I'll be fast, he lets me go gracefully.

Of course now I'm starting to realize maybe he wanted to escort me out of my possibly getting lost. "Where the hell is the bathroom in this place?" I mutter, out of the crowds but lost in a lobby of reflective and shiney surfaces and flowers.

"Hold still!"

"Mphhpgh!"

The sounds of a struggle are coming from around the corner three steps away. I quiet my heels and instinctively try to see what's going on. I freeze upon seeing two men in fancy suits and masquerade masks, and Izumi. One is holding the boy from behind and covering his mouth, muffling his screams. The other stabs a small injection needle into the boy's arm, and I watch as Izumi's struggles slow and his head falls limp. I think he's still breathing but, what the hell is going on?

"Hey!" I yell automatically, instantly regretting it. Shit, I didn't think this through.

Just as I anticipated, the two scary men turn and see me. "Oh boy," the one with the smaller mask says with the most sadistic smile. "Look Dosu, we've got an unfortunate little lady spy on our tail."

"Are you kidding me? What a pain," the other man with the full face masquerade mask says. I step back, unsure who exactly I'm dealing with. "No matter. We'll take her too. Can't risk her reporting us if we want the ransom to go through." What? No no no no. Not cool. Not good. "Zaku go."

The other guy drops Izumi and runs at a speed I'm not prepared for. I try to turn and run, but my shoes and dress keep me from dodging the man's grab. Similar to Izumi, his hand muffles my mouth as I try to scream at the top of my lungs. All survival tactics kick in as I kick and flail, but I'm just not physically strong enough. Suddenly I feel a prick on my shoulder. No! Things become slower. Sleepier. Harder to scream even though my brain says to keep screaming. My body becomes heavier, even though I try to stand and run. Something overtakes my body, and everything goes black.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"I told her she'd get lost," Boruto frowns, checking his phone. It's been fifteen minutes since he let me go from our dance.

"Stop being so paranoid. She's a badass now. Sarada can take care of herself," Shikadai teases, nudging Boruto in the arm.

"Maybe she's just taking a dump," Boruto states plainly, trying to calm down like his friends say.

"So, what'd you two talk about during your _dance_?" Inojin grins, eyebrows raising and a sleek sly smile dawning on him.

"None of your business," Boruto shoves.

"Hey," Mitsuki says, quiet this whole time. He'd been staring in a certain direction for a while, only now speaking up. His robbed arm lifts, pointing to the right, and the three boys follow his gaze. A few security gaurds are making their way to their parents, who have all congregated together into a small group to talk. The guards had pull only Sasuke and Naruto aside to talk.

Following suit, the boys leave their meeting spot and head to Sasuke. Boruto however stops them with his arms mid-crowd before they can be seen by the adults, eavesdropping on the conversation. A few other grown ups make up a wall between the four men and the boys.

"Sarada's been what?" Sasuke's voice raises quietly. "By who? When? Where is she?"

"The guests haven't been alerted yet," one guard with shades tells, and Boruto wonders what's happened. "Only our security team knows - to retain order and compliance."

"Authorities have been dispatched to look for her and the Tomodei boy and their kidnappers. Our team is alerting his mother now as well as we speak."

 _Sarada's been kidnapped?_ Something falls down from Boruto's chest and hits his stomach. Hard. His elbows and knees feel weak.

Without a word, Sasuke goes to try and leave the conversation, obviously to look for the scum who've kidnapped his daughter, but the security guards stop him with their arms. "Move," Sasuke warns in that trademark Uchiha authority.

"It's protocol that you remain at the Gala," one of the guards with shades explains in a no-nonsense command. Naruto holds Sasuke back before he can resort to instinctive violence. "Let the proper authorities handle the situation. It's a priority that panic doesn't ensure at the party, and your sudden disappearance will spur-"

"Screw your priorities my kid is missing," Sasuke almost hisses, his arm held back by Naruto. Sasuke shoves his arm out of Naruto's hold and marches away in the opposite direction of the exit and the security guards who delivered the bad news.

"No way," Inojin mutters, the boys all still standing where they've been. They watched the whole scene. "Sarada's been kidnapped?"

"Look man," Naruto says, catching up in front of a clearly panicked Sasuke, holding his shoulders and his stance in place. "The police got this. This is their job. They'll find her and bring her home."

"You can't expect me to stay here until that maybe happens," a livid Sasuke argues, pulling his friends' hands off his shoulders. "If this was Boruto or Himawari you wouldn't give a shit for protocol." Naruto couldn't deny that at all. "I'm leaving alone. Stay here and watch everybody. Keep the kids in line. They'll be looking for her."

"But Sasuke-" The man ignores his friend and turns his back, marching off and getting lost in the crowd of party-goers, probably to find a way out of the party. The lights and music blur his disappearance so no one notices him exit the Gala main room. Naruto sighs, he's just as worried and panicked, but he knows how these things go. There was nothing he could do.

To be on the safe side, Naruto walks forward in the same path Sasuke took, as if maybe if he caught up with Sasuke, maybe he could persuade the guy to trust the authorities and leave things in their hands. Not only as a best friend but a business partner, Naruto knew Sasuke's safety was also a priority, and going after highly experienced criminals who can pull off a kidnapping at the Subasa Gala is anything but safe.

Naruto passes up to the front of the museum and notices a familiar row of short heads, all running out of the party as well. His own son and friends. It clicks in Naruto's head that they're also leaving - no doubt to find their missing friend. SHIT. "Oh my god oh my god oh my god."

Naruto high tails it and runs, almost comically, pushing past people now regardless of manners. He makes it to the lobby, blaming his old age for not keeping up with the kids.

A car pulls up - a commoner's taxi, picking up the boys and driving straight off. After attempting to catch up to the yellow car before it disappears, Naruto snags a quick sight of the licence plate number. Limping to a stop, Naruto pulls out his phone to hurry and track the boys down all while catching his breath. He was definitely too old for this wild goose chase. "Sasuke leaves me to play babysitter and I let them slip right through my fingers." He sighs, running his hand through his head. "Sasuke's going to kill us."

* * *

 **LOOOOL, everyone's going ham as things get interesting.**

 **Sadly I don't have a preview this time around, since I haven't been able to work on the story as much. Hopefully by the next update I'll have a few extra drafts lined up to make for an interesting preview. Do you guys like this small snippets of lines of following chapters? Curious of opinions, since I've been doing them for a couple of my stories.**

 **Thank you for reading and being super understanding as always! It may be a while until the next update (can read my author's note at the beginning) but thank you for your kind reviews and messages so far! Stay well everyone!**


	21. On the Brink Pt2

**Chapter 21: On the Brink Pt2**

 _ **The Subasa Gala is one of the most important events for upper class society, requiring the Uchihas, Uzumakis and their friends to attend. As the household prepares for Sarada's first red-carpet appearance to the public media, Sasuke meanwhile is still dealing with the revelation that he's her father. When high-end kidnappers come to the Gala, Sasuke's sense of fatherhood is tested, all while Sarada is coming to realize her unique relationship with Boruto.**_

* * *

At some point, I begin to feel my senses returning one by one. I'm a little groggy and my limbs are numb. Feeling comes back to my legs first, then my arms then hands. My hearing blurs back clearly, and finally my eyelids lift themselves open when I want them to.

My vision's completely blurry from all the darkness, but it's all painting a familiar picture. I see Izumi's just as knocked out near me a few feet away, sitting. And then it all comes back to me. Back at the Gala and everything that happened with it. I recognize an identifiable pattern forming too. Lines. They're bars. We're- Oh god we're in a cell.

 _Now where am I?_

"H-Hey," I manage out, sounding so hoarse. It's hard to focus, probably from whatever they drugged us with, but I try to snap back to it and shake my head into its senses. When I try to rub my eyes, I realize my hands are restrained behind my back with a zip tie. My ankles are also held together with a ton of rope, and Izumi is the same way where sits against a wall. Oh my god this isn't good. "Izumi, wake up," I snap in a harsh whisper.

When he doesn't respond, I use all the force in my lower body to maneuver myself close enough to him where I can kick him awake. I flail my two legs forward and kick him hard enough where the boy falls sideways, and it's enough to wake him up. "Ow!" he groans, annoyed. Slowly he comes to and realizes where we are, all while struggling to sit back up. Unsuccessfully by the looks of it. "What, what happened...?"

"We got kidnapped," I admit, laying on my side a few feet away. I wonder what he remembers. He _was_ knocked out before I realized what those guys were doing. Speaking of, I don't see them either. At least in whatever room our cell is in. It feels and smells like a basement, with this jail cell complacently here.

Izumi's eyes widen as it sinks in for both of us the situation we're in. Tied and in a barred cell, with no way for anyone to find us, or signs of light or escape.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Mitsuki you sure you can trace her phone?" Shikadai whispers.

"If she still has it on her then yeah," Mitsuki replies, totally serious for once.

The boys sit in the back of their taxi as it closes in on their destination. According to the location-tracking Mitsuki's been following on my phone, they're just arriving in an abandoned part of town, full of condemned apartment buildings and homes and warehouses. Weeds have overgrown concrete sidewalks and graffiti litters the streets. A small fog has started to roll in, with the flickering street lights as their only source of light now that nightfall has hit.

The taxi leaves the well dressed boys on the side walk. By now, they've shed their heavier parts of their outfits and are left with rolled up button down undershirts, and their ties and collars loosened. Mitsuki's eyes have been glued to his own phone - and with his techy know-how the boy's managed to track their friend's hopeful location to this area.

A faint beeping sound echoes from the bottom of a water-drain at the side of the sidewalk. Boruto, Shikadai, Mitsuki and Inojin stand over the rusty water drain, where a tiny red light comes on with ever beep. That's Mitsuki, calling my phone.

"Someone tossed her phone," Mitsuki says out loud, a little solemnly. The rest stare with small morbid thoughts.

"Well, she should be here," Shikadai clears his throat, looking at the fishy warehouse behind them. Also condemned, and suspicious and dark. It's too quiet on this street. "Most likely if it's a ransom-kidnapping, then she should be fine."

"Do any of your phones have signal yet?" Inojin frowns, looking the most physically nervous about the area. The boys all check their phones. They all planned on calling the police once they found the right place, but the closer their taxi got in, the less bars their phones had. Until now where none of them can contact the authorities.

"Then let's do this," Boruto commands bravely, rolling up his sleeves.

"We're not seriously going in that place are we?" Inojin stares.

"You whimps can stay out here then. I'm goin' in to get Sarada."

"Yo hold up a sec," Shikadai interrupts before Boruto can go marching off. "You're not gonna be any help if those goons catch you too. Or worse. We don't even know if they're armed."

"Exactly why we need to get to Sarada now!"

"Dude listen to me," Shikadai tries to calm, both his hands on the blond's shoulders. "I know you're worried, but you're thinking irrationally. Our plan was to find her and call the authorities. We're no match for this type of shit Boruto, do you understand?"

"Yes I do," Boruto clarifies, throwing Shikadai's arms off him. "And I don't care how irrational I sound. What else are we gonna do? Take another taxi back to the Gala then call for police then? Who knows how long that'll take! And what if Sarada isn't here anymore once we do that huh? I'm not leaving her alone!"

Shikadai is at a loss for words by now. Reasoning out with the Uzumaki is useless, logically or emotionally. Inojin and Mitsuki seem conflicted as well behind Shikadai.

Mitsuki puts his phone away and smiles, walking up beside Boruto and facing the other half of their group. "I'll do whatever Boruto decides to do."

"What?" Inojin and Shikadai both say, deadpanned.

"R-Really?" Boruto asks unsure, a little confused himself by Mituski's... willing forwardness.

But the boy just nods, looking to his friend. "You're right. Sarada's our friend. She would do the same as you I believe."

"I highly doubt that," Shikadai frowns disagreeing.

"if you two are going in then I will too," Inojin sighs, giving in. He puts his arm around Shikadai. "If those two go in by themselves they're all dead." Between the four boys, the decision slowly becomes unanimous (hesitatingly of course).

Leading his friends, Boruto marches quietly into the warehouse. It's dark, empty, with only window-light coming in; to illuminate the fact that no one's been here for years. Boruto's eyes scan the room, noticing faint tracks in the dust of the floor. They lead to a narrow stairwell, that leads to a lower level floor.

Boruto signals silently the plan, and the guys nod, following to the stairs. Boruto goes down first solo, quietly and trying to see into the dark. He sees small patches of lampposts, and echos of men's laughter. The sound of a beeping computer. Other blurred noises as he looks for any signs of his friend.

" _No way in hell. That's Sasuke Uchiha's girl?"_

 _"She looks nothing like the kid in the magazines."_

 _"She'll get us double the fortune that other kid will."_

 _So Sarada is here,_ Boruto thinks to himself. Suddenly his head jumps, and amidst the basement-like smells, the aroma of a familiar expensive yet subtle and sweet perfume trails down a darker hallway, away from the room the kidnappers are in.

At that, Boruto looks back up at the guys and signals them to follow him down the stairs and hallway.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Whaaa...! A-And, what if I never see my parents a-a-again!" This Izumi kid looks pathetic laying on the floor sideways, crying with snot coming out of his nose. It's even worse with him all tied up. Almost embarrassing actually.

His antics ironically make me feel like I'm in a much better place. Mentally anyway.

So from what I've gathered, they took my phone, so I can't call for anyone. I think I can get myself out of these restraints - Suigetsu taught me a couple tricks back home that he thought may come in handy at some point in my life. As for the cell, if it's a regular lock then I think I can pick it. If it's a double lock it'll be tricky, but I have to figure it out otherwise.

Still, it's no use escaping unless I find something to cut the rope around my feet first. Breaking out will make too much noise and there will be no do-overs - so I should do this all only when I know it'll all work out.

"How the hell are you so calm!" Izumi cries, rather irritated at my unusual movements. I try to maneuver my body to the wall where a few shards of broken glass sit. Hopefully one of them is big and sharp enough for what I need. "You're acting so inappropriate for-!"

"SHUT UP!" I finally snap, having had it with this kid. He flinches, not expecting me to yell at him. I can't believe I raised my voice, but I'm sure yelling isn't any sign for our captors to check up on us. I sigh, trying to remain calm and not as annoyed. "I'm trying to get us out of here, and I need for you to just _STOP_ crying like a baby for a second, okay?"

He just keeps sniffling, but I must've scared him enough to stop talking. That's better anyway. "But, h-how are you going to do that..?" he asks less loud.

"My old babysitter taught me how to get out of zip ties if anyone ever handcuffed me," I answer simply, overlooking different glass shards. Most are too small.

Izumi's face drains in confusion. "Is that normal for commoners?" I guess not.

I sigh, remembering Suigetsu teaching me over and over how to break out of them. It hurt a lot, figuring it out as a kid. I was bored and missing my mom during one of her trips, and Suigetsu kept me occupied teaching me how to escape zip-ties. How he knew, I never asked. And I never used the skill afterwards either. To be honest I never thought I'd have to, but now I'll have to remind myself to thank him later.

Ignoring Izumi, I finally find a glass shard big enough, and separate it away from the pile with my feet. It slides to the middle of the cell, and Izumi flinches seven feet away from it - probably thinking it was going towards him. Geez.

"I'm gonna break out of mine first," I whisper, contorting my body to swing my arms from my back and under my legs, to in front of me. Izumi looks intrigued, sniffling whatever's left in his nose. "Then you, okay?"

He nods hesitantly as I try to use the cell bars to help me stand. My plan first is to get out of the zip ties holding my wrists together, and then I'll use the glass shard to cut the ropes around my legs loose. How Suigetsu told me to get out of zip ties, was to position my arms and elbows a certain way, and with the right amount of strength I should be able to break right out of them with sheer force. He did it at least five times in front of me to prove it can be done - I did it once, after about fifteen failed tries as a kid.

This'll hurt if I don't get it on the first try.

Meanwhile, Boruto and the boys walk slowly and quietly down the long dark hall - following the blonde. "Are you sure they're this way?" Shikadai mutters behind Boruto. "What makes you so sure Sarada's here?"

"Gut feeling," Boruto shrugs, trying not to look as serious as he feels. "I can smell the perfume Sai gave her. She's here." Soon enough they reach the tunnel's opening, and hide in the side of the wall before coming right in, just in case someone's in there. While hiding however they hear two voices in the room.

"A-Are you sure that's a good idea?" A boy asks.

"Shut up and stop asking questions...!" whispers back a girl.

"Is that her?" Inojin whispers as the boys all peek their heads behind the wall to see. There's a cell, with a boy on the floor and me in a weird restrained stance. Squatting. It's a little funny to look at.

"Why does she look like she's about to take a shit?" Boruto mutters with a face, causing the other guys to wonder too.

I breath in. I breath out. _Here goes_. With as silent a grunt as I can make, I raise my arms and wrists, and with as much condensed force I can muster I let out a quiet 'Hiya!', and bring my elbows down towards my hips with speed as I quickly try to separate my wrists from each other. The sound of the plastic zip tie breaks with an echoing crack sound, and Izumi's eyes widen and his mouth hangs open from the floor.

The boys in their discretion and hiding also hang their mouths open. "Where the hell did she learn that...?" Shikadai stammers.

And right after, with no time to gawk and my own victory, I quickly lean and steal the glass shard I kicked earlier, and with a swift fast cut, I free my ankles from all the ropes. I flip the glass in my hand to the other sharp side and look at my palm. The force I used to cut the ropes cut into my skin looked pretty bad. A slit of thin glass cut into my palm a bit, but I can manage. I wouldn't have had time to slowly and safely slice each rope through, so this was the only option.

Immediately, I run over and use the shard to cut Izumi's ankle ropes open too with my other hand. This time the slow and careful way. I can't afford to ruin both my hands right now. He's out in two minutes and sitting up. "I can't break your zip tie, so hang tight," I reassure, standing and walking to the lock.

"What the hell is she...?" Inojin stares in amazement with his friends, unsure whether to reveal themselves yet.

I pick a hair pin from my hair and encircle my arms out of the bars and around to the lock outside the cell. As I start to pick at it, with small successful clicks echoing about, the boys can only gape. "Dude she's a fucking spy I swear," Boruto says bewildered.

"You're insane!" Izumi barks from behind me.

I want to beat him up so bad. "I'm saving your butt so keep your voice down will ya?" While lecturing him, my hand slips and I drop my hairpin which slides a little while away from the cell. It slides a little too far for me to reach, and when I kneel down to extend my arm, the pin is literally an inch away from my reach. "Crap..!"

"Need a hand?" Boruto's voice speaks up. I freeze up instinctively, but see the four shadows coming in belong to none other than my friends. I almost don't believe it at first. H-How? Boruto picks up the pin and passes it to me. I take it with a shaky hold, and he kneels down in front of me with the bars between us. The boys stand over behind him. Borutos hands wrap around two of the bars with a frown. "You alright?"

I want to break down and cry - the stress of tonight finally hitting. But I can't do that, not yet. I smile gratefully and wipe my eyes with my arm. "Yeah," I smile, so happy they're here and I'm not alone. "But h-how did you get here?"

"Mitsuki," Boruto brags, pointing his thumb over his shoulder. He stands up, and so do I. "We've tried contacting the police, but it's hard to get any signal from in here."

I finish picking the lock, managing to get the cell door open between us. The guys look almost surprised and impressed as I quietly open it. Inojin is shaking his head in disbelief. "So where did you learn how to do all this?" Inojin whispers.

"My babysitters," I grin, proud of them for once.

"I knew they were criminals at one point," Boruto teases with an expectant expression.

"H-Hey!" Izumi's voice yells from the cell. We all look back at him, trying to stand up clumsily before he falls back down. His eyes and face are red and shiny from crying - probably still is going to. "What about me?"

"Do you guys have anything that can cut a zip tie?" I frown. All of them shake their heads, emptying their pockets. "It's alright. Can we get out the same way you guys came in?"

"We could. We're in a warehouse somewhere near the city border," Mitsuki informs.

"But the staircase back upstairs to the exist is right near the room where those guys who took you are," Shikadai warns. "It could be risky getting all of us through without getting caught. Especially with your cell-mate over there."

"I can be quiet!" the brat shouts, before holding his tongue regretfully. We all give him that disappointed expectant look.

 _"Can't we just leave him behind_?" Inojin mutters under his breath, only for Shikadai to elbow the guy.

"Do you know if those guys were armed, Sarada?" Boruto asks, this unusual serious and older tone to him.

Were his eyes always this blue in the dark? "Uh, I don't remember," I say, snapping out of my thoughts. "They drugged me and Izumi before we knocked out."

There's this concern in Boruto's look from hearing I was drugged, but our attention averts when footsteps echo from the hallway. "I hear them coming," Mitsuki whispers urgently, and we all fall silent. I do hear footsteps.

Think fast Sarada, think fast. "Shikadai, Boruto, hide under that table. There's some rope and chains under there I think. Inojin, Mitsuki, you guys hide in the shadows and wait for my signal. On my mark, jump them."

"What?" Inojin says, a little too loud.

"Just go!" Shikadai rushes, pushing all the boys to move. I meanwhile get back in the cell and close the door. It's still unlocked, but looks less suspicious that way. I sit Izumi right next to me and urge him to shush, motioning for him to sit on his legs like I am to hide our freed legs. Then I put my hands behind my back together, almost forgetting about my freed hands. Izumi's still whimpering, but I figure that's alright. Boruto and Mituski are hidden safely under a small wooden table. I see Inojin in the shadows behind a barrel and- wait, where the hell is Mitsuki?

Soon enough three figures come into the cement walled room. They're dressed differently than I remember. Kind of, dangerous looking. Scary. One is a man with his whole face covered in bandage wrap, save for one eye. There's also a woman with hair long down to her knees, with this cold stare. Another guy has tall standish hair, and the most sadistic smile.

"Kin, you said they'd be out for at least another hour."

"Doesn't matter, they're still wrapped up."

The one with the crazy joker-like smile comes up to the bars. Suddenly he bangs on them with his hands, rattling Izumi and me as it echos. We flinch at the bang, and the man laughs in amusement. I try not to look at the guys for more than a second, to keep them hidden, but I can see Boruto looked scared for us too from his hiding spot.

"Scared?" the man teases, laughing again before turning to his partners. I look at them. They don't look armed. Maybe they're hiding knives in their pockets? I don't see any shape of guns under their clothes. I can't quite tell.

"Stop messing around, Zaku," the man with the head bandages says.

Meanwhile Shikadai and Boruto stay on their knees under the table, a little frozen themselves from the unfolding events. "This is insane," Shikadai whispers, completely freaking out. His whole body is shaking, and he can't seem to make it stop. "And what signal are we looking for?"

"How the hell should I know?" Boruto answers, trembling just as much. His eyes remain on me, trying to keep face and sit straight all while remembering to breathe.

The three adults walk away from the cell and father together, talking about something I can't overhear. However the words 'delivery' and 'ship' register through, and I get a sinking feeling Izumi and I aren't going to be staying here for very long. Meaning we have to get out fast. A small cowardly part of me wishes Sasuke was here, to save us. But realistically right now I can't rely on that possibility.

Izumi is too busy shaking and whimpering next to me (god), to notice me pick up the same glass shard from behind me, and put it in my dress pocket. _I'm gonna do this. I'm really gonna do this._ I plan on running out and just trying to get them. Not really the smartest plan, it's really brash and dangerous. But outside the cell I can see a couple things that would make for better weapons on our end. But they'll see me coming long before I can catch them by surprise.

This might be the only way no though. I shut my eyes, trying to swallow the vomit trying to come up my throat. _You dragged the guys into this already. If anyone's risking their lives it's gonna be me_.

Quietly I try to raise myself to stand, and ignore the shaking in my knees, but suddenly I see a body from the ceiling. Mitsuki, who apparently had somehow climbed and hid himself in between the ceiling beams and just - dropped! On them! "Mitsuki!" I scream, having gotten scared by that.

"Holy shit," Boruto swallows, Shikadai jumping and hitting his head on the table.

"Is that the signal?" Inojin mutters from his hiding spot.

"YES!" I scream, standing with sudden confidence and running out of the cell. The cell door slams open and I run into the confusion with Mitsuki, tugging on the woman Kin's long hair, while blinding another guy with his arm. I throw my arms on them, feeling for any weapons, and when a hand palms for the my face, I bite back.

"Fuck!" the man with bandages around his head screams. Eventually he pushes me away and I land on the ground, but not before I pull out a gun from his coat sleeve. _Oh my god_. I roll out of the way and fumble with it until my trembling hands find the bullets and I empty it, tossing the bullets elsewhere and sliding the gun somewhere else as well. Running right past me is Shikadai and Inojin, holding a pipe and a wooden plank as they jump in to help Mitsuki.

"ZAKU!" the woman shouts in between the struggle. "You damn kids, ZAKU go upstairs and get the boss!"

"This is such crap," Zaku mutters as he shoves Inojin off him. He starts to make a run for the stairs up from the basement, until Boruto still hiding in his spot pulls a rope, tied to a table across from him. He trips Zaku, who ends up falling, and Boruto stands over his back as he tries to tie him. I run over and help before Zaku can get back up and overpower us.

"Nice," I compliment, helping Boruto tighten the rope as he ties it off. We ignore the cusses running out of the man's mouth.

"We'll handle things here. You run up and get out of here and look for help."

"I'm not leaving you guys," I say quickly.

"Sarada Boruto look out!" Inojin screams across the room, still all ganged up on Kin with Mitsuki and Shikadai. We look up up and see the head-bandages-man, Dosu, running at us, holding a knife in hand.

"Shit," Boruto curses, pushing me out of the way as we run opposite directions. Dosu ends up turning and running towards me (of course) and ends up cornering me. Realizing I duped myself by running straight for a wall, I turn and trip backwards from my dress. Seeing the man tower over me and raise his hand with the knife freezes something in me. I shut my eyes and instinctively hold my arms up, mentally bracing myself for whatever pain I'm about to feel. All the guys' voices in the background, all their screaming, fades out as I feel my life flash before my eyes.

And then of course - it doesn't happen.

I'm still shaking, and my arms are frozen above my head and I'm too scared to open my eyes back up. But I don't feel any pain, or am I already dead? It's like I can only hear my heartbeat until the guys' voices slowly fade back into comprehension, and one eye manages to squint open. I've never felt fear paralyze me like this.

Boruto and Inojin had run in time to tackle the man to the ground, despite his weapon.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Meanwhile above ground, a driver stops in front of the warehouse, where Sasuke Uchiha steps out from the back seat. It's still just as cold and foggy as it was when the guys found the place. "If I don't come out in five minutes get the cops," Sasuke orders to his personal driver, who merely nods and rolls the window back up.

With his hands in his trench coat Sasuke enters the warehouse. As if by instinct knowing where to go, he travels down the stairs and notices a long hall way, and one lit up like an office. Deciding between the two he enters into a small basement-like office, dimly lit from small lanterns where a single man resides. "Sasuke Uchiha," the man chuckles, letting out a cloud of smoke from his cigar.

Sasuke's eyes narrow. He knows this man. "Kabuto," he scoffs. "Why am I not surprised."

"Can't say I am," Kabuto chuckles. "I heard from my people we accidentally snatched your magazine cover kid. My bad. She wasn't our original target, if that makes you feel better."

"If you hurt her in even a single way you're a dead man."

"Ooh. Threats of violence aren't really your style," Kabuto teases from the comfort of his seat. He takes another hit from his cigar before blowing out another cloud of smoke. However Sasuke comes right up and snatches the cigar from his hand, tossing it across the room. He stands right over Kabuto, all formalities out the window long ago. "That's more like the Sasuke I know."

"The police are already on their way," Sasuke talks. "If you hand the kids over, both of them, I'll let you out of here for old time's sake."

"Sentimental are we?" Kabuto suggests. "That kid made you soft. High school you wouldn't have let me off the hook so easy."

"Don't mistake my mercy for sentimentality."

"Hn," Kabuto stands. "I'll take you up on your offer this time."

"I don't want to see you near my kid, ever," Sasuke warns as Kabuto passes.

"You say that like she's really your kid," Kabuto mentions on his way out. "But no worries. I'm not stupid. If you want the kids, go down the other hallway. No guarantees of easy access. My men are down there, you know."

"Go," Sasuke says one more time, not one to entertain such a snake with conversation. Kabuto grins one more time before heading casually out of the room.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

I'm trying really hard to focus on hearing, or even putting my arms down, but I'm still shaking and huddled in place. Like I can't control myself. _Move Sarada move_. Eventually Shikadai looks over at me, realizing I'm having a moment and runs over with Mitsuki while Inojin and Boruto continue to hold Dosu down. Mitsuki kneels down beside me while Shikadai puts his hands over my arms to bring them down from my face. "Hey hey, you're okay," Shikadai hurriedly tries to assure, not to sure what to do. My body won't stop shaking. "Sarada snap out of it."

"I-I-I'm trying," I manage to say out. I'm surprised by my stammer, but my shaking hasn't stopped. Mentally and physically I'm trying to calm down and I just can't.

"What's the matter with her?" Shikadai frowns.

"She might be having a panic attack," Mitsuki assess. That makes sense. I was totally ready to die. And I think I'm still in fight-or-flight mode in my head.

Shikadai forces his hands into mine, giving me two tight squeezes. "Here breath in slow and deep, okay? Try to squeeze my hand as tight as you can. Are you trying?"

"I-I am."

"Are you?" Shikadai says with a face, feeling barely a grip from me. Suddenly I feel myself get grabbed from the side away from Shikadai, from the guy Zaku - who must've gotten out of his ropes. He hoists me over my tripping feet and tosses me to the ground on my back, but not before pulling out something where I hear a click. Shikadai and Mitsuki who had been running after me skid to a stop upon seeing a gun.

Once I recover enough to hold my torso up on my elbows, I find Zaku's gun aimed right at me. He can't miss. And I can't find my breath.

"I don't care how much money you'll make us. You're not worth all this trouble," the crazed man in the mask glares with this crazed demented grin.

And then I don't even see it coming, but Boruto's body suddenly slides and lands right over mine, shielding my torso and my head with his whole being. He has one arm holding himself up and the other wrapped around my head. Despite the protection, my heart rate's shoots up immediately for Boruto. I can hear the guy's shouts in the distance.

"Don't worry I've got you," Boruto breathes out in quick desperate whisper. I can feel his hold behind my head, pressing my forehead against his cheek.

"BORUTO!" Shikadai shouts, frozen in place with his friends. If they moved even an inch there was a chance Zaku would shoot. It was checkmate. None of us expected for him to get out of those ropes.

Despite my hypersensitive senses going haywire, it doesn't register that the footsteps I hear from the basement stairs is our savior. I hear another click, but I'm too scared to turn away from Boruto's chest to see who it is. "If your finger on that gun so much as even moves you're finished," says Naruto's voice.

Shikadai, Mitsuki and Inojin look up, finding Naruto at the basement entrance, holding a gun to Zaku too. "One more step and the kid gets it right in the head!" Zaku warns, but there's a hint of hesitancy in his voice. Being held at gunpoint himself wasn't the plan.

 _Is that Naruto?_

Unphased, Naruto starts walking in, holding his handgun with two hands. Zaku out of fear looks between us and Naruto, before shifting targets with his now nervous hold. "I-I'll shoot you I swear!"

"A professional holds a handgun with two hands," Naruto says calmly, walking even closer and faster to Zaku, who steps back one. "I won't miss."

Boruto keeps one eye open to watch the scene, but keeps as still huddled around me. After a few moments, Zaku lowers his arms and drops the gun.

"Freeze!" yells another voice from the staircase. More footsteps I hear. With one officer there, more flood in from the stairs behind him and Naruto. All conscious adults have their hands up, and Naruto lowers his gun on the floor as well, then calmly raises his arms as the police pass him. I can hope in my heart all the violence will come to an end. However I haven't had the bravery to open my eyes, and Boruto hasn't had the heart to let go of me yet either since he shielded me from the gun.

Until now, he's at least loosened his grip. "I think we're okay," Boruto says shakily, giving my back of my head a small squeeze to signal it was alright.

My sore elbows still leaning on the floor can't compare to the trembling in the rest of me. I must've been like this for a while. When did my body become so shaky? However once it registers that it's all over, and the man Zaku who held us at gunpoint is being handcuffed and taken away.

I gasp and sit up, throwing my arms around Boruto. "Oh my god...!" I breathe, almost hysterical. His other arm automatically goes around me, and we just hold each other in our uncomfortable sitting position - just like that. "Oh my god never do that again," I breathe out, feeling my eyes finally start to water.

"We're alright, we're alright," Boruto says, surprisingly his voice just as shaky and unstable as mine. I feel a tear drop on my face, not one of mine. Is Boruto actually crying? I try to loosen my grip so I can look up at him but he just holds me tighter instead. I've never seen Boruto - overbearing, cocky, immature Boruto - so vulnerable before. _I've_ never been this way either.

"Boruto?"

"I'm sorry," he gasps, trying to laugh off the crying. "I was so scared for you."

"For me? You were the one in front of the gun," I try to say through my hiccups. Neither of us sounded any better though.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Watching that brat Izumi talk to the press, as if he was some local hero who saved a cat from a tree was somehow more irritating than I'd like it to be. "What a douche," Shikadai murmurs first, all of us hanging around the back of an ambulance. We're all back above ground, outside the warehouse where tons of police cars are parked, along with two or three ambulances.

I'm sitting on the back open door ledge of one of them, with a blanket around me to keep me warm while the guys all stand around. Police are parading around as well talking to other adults and authorities, but luckily we've gone through our police interviews and us kids finally get to be alone.

"All that work and Izumi pretends he did everything," Boruto watches with clear distaste. He shakes his head. "I could take him."

"I don't doubt that at all," I laugh tiredly.

"I'm surprised you're not upset," Inojin notes, also annoyed with Izumi. He jumps up, taking a seat beside me in the ambulance. "You're not mad?"

"I'm too tired to be mad," I admit with an honest sigh. "And I'm happy enough that we're alright, that you guys are safe." I smile, making sure they're all looking at me. "Thank you for saving me."

"At the rate we found you, you probably would've saved yourself," Inojin laughs. "But you're welcome."

"Are you sure you're alright though?" Shikadai frowns, remembering my little panic attack downstairs. Boruto furrows his eyebrows too.

"I'm a lot better now, honest," I assure, pulling the warm blanket more over my shoulders. It really is quite chilly out here.

Naruto starts walking over after a long talk with another officer. "Mitsuki, Inojin, Boruto; the police detective would like to take your statements."

The three boys groan and unwillingly go along with an amused yet sympathetic Naruto. He shoots me a comfortable smile before taking the guys under his arm and escorting them. "Watch her, okay?" Boruto asks Shikadai, who merely nods. When they all go, this leaves Shikadai standing beside the ambulance with me, and there's this silence going on between us, with the voices and sirens fading out into the background.

I've never had this... kind of awkward silence with any of the guys before. I don't know if it's because we've all just gone through something pretty big together, or because of, well, I don't know. As safe as we must feel, there's this awkward tension in the air as well.

Meanwhile with Naruto over watching the boys re-explain what happened to the police, Sasuke comes up beside him. "Sasuke."

"You're here," Sasuke notes, but not before seeing the boys. "With the kids."

"Yeah haha,"Naruto admits sheepishly. He knew he was slightly in trouble. "As soon as you left I saw the kids leaving too and uh, I followed them."

"I overheard the police say you had a gun," Sasuke says, half impressed. "Where the hell did you get one?"

"I found it on the floor," Naruto grins with some sweat on the sides of his face. Sasuke's face is expected. "To be honest it was out of amo but it did the trick."

"You retard," Sasuke frowns, palming down the top of Naruto's head before he swats Sasuke's arm away. He wonders how a goof ball like this managed to save the kids' lives, but is nonetheless thankful.

"Still, Sarada was pretty shaken up until the medical team helped her back up," Naruto lets him know, fixing his hair. "She was bound up and held at gun point, the boys said she was almost stabbed -" The two men look over to the ambulance back where Boruto and I are just waiting together. "She seems alright now but you should really check on her."

"I will," Sasuke says, all annoyance gone from his face now. Just, sympathy. Guilt? "See what I mean though? Just being associated with the Uchihas put her in this mess."

"I can see why you wouldn't want too many people know she's really yours," Naruto says with hands in his pockets as they look on.

Meanwhile back with me, Shikadai and I wait around in silence. As much as I keep replaying how many times I almost died in the past two hours, I also can't forget how many times Boruto put his life on the line for mine, and how terrified I was for him. I couldn't think when my life or his was in danger. There was Mitsuki, Shikadai and Inojin yeah, but Boruto was the one who went in front of a loaded gun and jumped a man with a blade the size of his head. "Sarada?" Shikadai speaks up.

"Yes?" I respond with my head up, cursing myself mentally for reacting so fast.

"Um, about what happened down there..." Shikadai starts, looking back and forth between me and anywhere else.

"Thank you for trying to calm me down," I start off with a gentle smile, to make this easier on him. I don't know if Shikadai have ever had one-on-ones before, and he doesn't look too comfortable. "Not the best time to have a breakdown, and you helped a lot."

"Not really. You got dragged away without so much as a fight from me or Mitsuki," Shikadai admits guiltily. "We couldn't do anything."

"If it's worth mentioning, if I had a few more seconds with you and your method in calming me down it would've totally worked," I perk up with a teasing smile, and Shikadai rolls his eyes. I chuckle, feeling good about at least cheering him up. "I've never had a panic attack like that before and that probably wasn't the best time. And despite everything going on you still sat down with me and calmed me down. That's pretty brave."

"I don't want a pep talk from you," Shikadai denies, looking away. I can still see a small tint of red embarrassment on his cheeks which makes me smile a bit. "Besides, if there's anyone you should be thanking it should be Boruto. The guy practically risked his life more times than I can count tonight to find and save you."

"Y-Yeah," I agree, looking down at my knees and my dangling feet. I was thinking the same thing earlier.

"The second he found out at the Gala you were kidnapped he was livid," Shikadai tells me. Another paramedic and officer pass by, and we wait in silence for them to leave earshot. "He was also the first one going down into the warehouse and the one calling the shots. If it was up to me we'd still be waiting up here for the police that would've probably come too late."

"Hey," I remind, leaning my torso over. I can sense the guilt in his tone, and the last thing I want is for one of us to walk away feeling like things could've ended different. "Don't do this to yourself, Shikadai. Everything worked out. You did good." A small half smile eventually manages through him, and I smile back. "Sorry, am I sounding pep-talky again?"

"When don't you," he says, making me laugh. Shikadai looks off into the distance, seeing some police officers still interviewing Boruto and Mitsuki, having already gone through Inojin. "He likes you, you know."

 _What_. "W-What?"

"Boruto," Shikadai says nonchalantly, motioning his head over to the guys further away. "You know he likes you, right?"

I have to blink and process that through my head first. Did Shikadai really just say that. "No he doesn't..." I deny softly, feeling chills up my arms. I've had enough things make my heart beat fast today. "We're just close roommates."

"Roommates don't jump in front of guns for each other," Shikadai rewords while turning his head towards me. All I can do is look down with a shy frown. "You don't like him back?"

"N-No... It's not that. I..." I what? _I, I don't know what I feel._ "Did he tell you that?"

"Well, I guess not," Shikadai answers honestly, "But it's pretty obvious."

"You think so?" He nods, and I feel familiar butterflies in my stomach. "Why are you telling me this?"

Shikadai shrugs his shoulders. "You and I are never really alone so this seemed like a good time. Especially after tonight."

"I... guess I never thought about it before," I explain thoughtfully. I've definitely gotten more comfortable with Boruto since I first got here, a lot faster and closer than I thought I would. Would I get butterflies sometimes? Not all the time, but in some moments recently now that I think about it.

Noticing me getting lost in my thoughts, Shikadai chuckles to himself. "Don't think too hard about it. I was just curious. Sorry for being nosy."

"No, you're not being nosy at all," I reassure, half still thinking and half back in reality.

"Sarada!" Sasuke's voice calls, causing Shikadai and I to look up. Through the police tape I can see an officer let him through, and he's marching right over with a one-track-mind kind of look.

"Sasuke," I smile, feeling my eyes water. I hop off the back of the ambulance and let the blanket around me drop. Shikadai smiles warmly and watches me run off on my own towards Sasuke. The tears I've been holding in since the EMT's got me start coming out as I run towards Sasuke, who looks at ease. I dash right into him so hard I must've hurt him, but my arms lock around his waist as I feel his arms around my back. My sniffling remains light but ever present as I let myself go. "Sasuke!" I manage out, sobbing. I can't tell if it's sad or happy crying. A bit of both.

Sasuke remains silent, eventually loosening my grip enough to kneel down to my height and hug me even closer. I wrap my arms around is neck and bury my face in his shoulder while he caresses the small of my back and my head. Small hiccups and shudders escape during my sob, but Sasuke's here to ease it in and out. "Thank god you're alright," Sasuke breathes out, the whole palm of his head around the back of my head. "I'm so sorry."

"I'm just so happy you're here," I cry shamelessly, hugging him so tight. I've never felt more like a daughter than I do now. Crying like a little girl, being held in my father's arms. It was a life moment I've surely had before over the summer, but not like this. Feeling so helpless, and just Sasuke's hold makes me feel like everything will be okay.

"I'm never letting anything bad happen to you ever again," Sasuke voice manages out, almost like he's out of breath. "I promise." Between the siren and the voices and the cold, it all goes away, and it's just Sasuke and me in our own little world. And right now, that's all it needs to be.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Our driver ends up taking Naruto, Sasuke, Boruto and I home by 1:00am. I fell asleep on Sasuke's lap in the car, having never left his side since our reunion back at the warehouse. When we arrive back at the mansion, he wakes me up lightly and escorts me back in.

Ino and Hinata are waiting in the kitchen with tea and their pajamas. When the front doors open, both women spring up to see. And much to their relief it's the guys and the kids. "Oh Boruto...!" Hinata almost cries, running to her son and hugging and kissing him. Naruto comes along and she does the same with her husband before hugging them both one more time.

"Thank you for staying with Hinata," Sasuke motions to Ino in passing. He's holding my hand, trying to keep me awake. My eyes have been drooping along with my head on and off since we left the car. Talk about embarrassing. "Our driver can take you home. Inojin was driven back by Sai's driver."

"Good to know. Thanks for getting my boy back, Sasuke," a tired but cool-headed Ino thanks. With a squeeze of his shoulder and a light smile to me, she goes on to leave for the night.

Sasuke squeezes my hand once more to make sure I'm awake and he looks to Boruto. "Boruto can you escort Sarada to her room?"

"Of course," Boruto nods obediently, walking with me slowly up the stairs. After Hinata finishes hugging Naruto she also throws her arms around Sasuke before they go to the kitchen to discuss the night's events I assume. I don't know if I've ever seen Hinata hug Sasuke before, I randomly think. "I've never been more tired in my life," Boruto sighs, making small talk as we near the top of the stairs. "I barely even remember the ball really."

"Same," I laugh, glad we have our casual tone back in order. Part of me just wants to fall asleep in my messed up hair and make up and dress, but I know I shouldn't. I'm just so groggy. The medics mentioned it could be a side effect of the drug those guys used on me and Izumi earlier in the night. But before things return _too_ too fast to normalcy, I wanted to talk to Boruto about tonight and what he did. Shikadai's and my talk came back around a lot in my head on the way home - and if I don't talk about this with Boruto now we probably won't bring up tonight again.

"Do you need anything?" Boruto asks politely once we reach my door. "Water? Extra pillows? Uh-"

"Why did you, do what you did? You know, putting yourself in danger like that?" I ask out of no where, very clear and a little higher in pitch than I intended. Boruto looks completely caught off guard. I bite my lip from embarrassment, but there's no going back now."Y-You could've really gotten hurt tonight, or worse."

"Well yeah but you too."

"You know what I mean," I say, keeping level headed. Or trying to. "Y-You... I guess what I'm trying to say is, thank you?"

"O-Of course, that's what friends are f-"

"Friends don't jump in front of guns for other friends," I cut off, accidentally repeating what Shikadai said to me earlier. Boruto looks at me in silence for a moment, unsure of what to follow up with. I look down and sigh. I don't know what I was expecting out of bringing this up. "Never mind, forget I mentioned anything. We're home, we're safe. I'm tired and I want pants. Goodnight."

"H-Hey!" Boruto grabs my door handle at the same time as me to prevent me from going in yet. However our hands touch on the doorknob and in late-reaction fashion we stare before retracting our hands very quickly, and awkwardly. "Maybe normal friends don't jump in front of guns for each other but, clearly you've never had friends like me and the others." He's nervous saying it. I can hear it in his normally cocky voice, now very humane and vulnerable. "You're my best friend, Sarada," Boruto makes very clear, looking away now. "You don't have to say it back, and you're probably a lot closer to your friends back home but, you really are, to me. And I'd do anything for you."

"Wow..." I blink breathlessly, not expecting to hear any of this. At all. Oh my god.

"Yeah..." Boruto goes on, a little awkward and not sure how to wrap up that sentiment. "Sorry, that came out really corny and I just- I-"

I hug him, cutting him off. His face turns warm, and my cheeks turn pink too. Maybe Shikadai was onto something. "You're the best friend I've ever had too, Boruto," I whisper, hugging him not too tight but with all my heart. "Thank you for saving me tonight."

Boruto smiles and hugs me back even tighter. We stay like that a few seconds more before he lets me go for the night. Our goodbyes are just as awkward as our talk, but it was good. All of it. I walk into my bedroom feeling more butterflies than trauma like I thought I would feel. Tonight was, something.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Sasuke, after finishing his talk with Hinata and Naruto (which ran way longer than he intended, but he made it a priority to make sure Hinata was at ease enough to go to bed). He's finally sitting in bed, looking over a few more papers he'd have to fully review in the morning. The workaholic in him made him stay up late hours post turn-in, but tonight especially. He'd almost lost his daughter. And as distraught as Hinata was for the safety of her son, Sasuke had a heavy taste of that tonight too. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't feeling a little antsy with the peace after so much chaos that night.

A quiet knock on his door brings him out of his work-mode. It's 2:15am on the clock, but he allows whoever it is in anwyay. "Yes," he replies. It's probably Naruto again or something-

"Sasuke...?" my timid voice peeks in, and all work is automatically out of Sasuke's head. His head shoots up and he sees me poking half my body through the door, as if I'm still now allowed all the way in.

"Sarada," Sasuke blinks, putting his papers away on a side table.

"Sorry, I wasn't sure if you were awake," I apologize, coming all the way in and closing the door. "It's kind of embarrassing and you can say no but uh-" _I'm so awkward today_. "Can I sleep in here tonight with you? I've been trying to in my room and, I dunno I just..." My lips purse together, unsure how to maturely spell out that I'm too scared to go to bed by myself. "After tonight I'm a little-"

"Don't worry about it," Sasuke finishes, no sense of judgement or annoyance in his voice. He scoots over in his bed and lifts the covers on his left side.

A weak smile comes on and I come around his bed, climbing in. It's so much more luxurious feeling than my bed (somehow), and it all smells like him. There's a small giddy part of me that is happy this actually worked out, but Sasuke lowers the already dim light of his lamp for bed, and I remove my glasses. "I'll just finish looking over some papers if you don't mind. You can go to sleep."

"Okay," I smile faintly, already falling asleep too easily. I'm laying on my side facing a still somewhat sitting Sasuke. "Thank you."

"Hn." Carefully Sasuke brings over two papers from his small stack to read over. And within minutes, he feels my head come in closer, towards his chest as my fragile tiny body hugs a heap of the blanket around me. Sasuke can feel the slowing breathing of his daughter, somehow much calmer than she was at the door two minutes ago, and he can't help but smile.

Deciding to forget about the paperwork that awaits him in a few hours, Sasuke puts it aside again (carefully) and turns the lamp off. Afraid laying down will stir his daughter back awake, Sasuke remains in his somewhat sitting/laying position against his pillow and lays his left arm around his daughter, to prop her up for a less sore sleeping position. "Goodnight," Sasuke whispers, running his thumb through my hair absentmindedly as he loses himself to sleep as well.

* * *

 _ **Hi guys! Thank you so much for being so patient for this chapter update and for your kind reviews ;-; I'd feel so guilty sometimes not having time between hospital check ups and my career. And that being said hobbies like this kind of get stuck in the background. I've been doing well, and will continue pushing through So thank you for little notes and pm's saying get well soon and to take time to myself! I hope you all do the same, and happy late holidays! And happy late New Years! Cheers to bigger steps for all!**_

 **PREVIEW:**

 _ **I can see a couple of the maids setting up string lights along the backyard statues and trees. "What are the lights for?" I ask curiously.**_

 _ **"For the ball," Hinata answers, and I hold back my instinctive frown. "The yard will be open to guests for mingling as well that night."**_

 _ **"Weee~," Boruto responds sarcastically enthusiastic. I can't deny I'm a little less than excited about the party too. After all the madness that went on this past week already, I'm so done with rich-people gatherings.**_

 _ **x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

 _ **"Boruto is your**_ **grandson** _ **," Naruto pushes, trying to maintain his professional composure. At the moment the room's current discussion revolved around the matter of the future of the Hyuuga Company.**_

 _ **"He's not even fit to be a Hyuuga," the man narrows, his pale eyes old and wrinkling with age and tradition. "Hinata's daughter Himawari Hyuuga is years well into her studies and is under tight grooming to take over the company when she is of age. When I die, not only will she take over, but the Hyuuga Council has unanimously decided that she too will also the the sole inheritor of both her's, mine, and Boruto's shares of the company."**_

 _ **"Wait-," Naruto flinches.**_

 _ **"Boruto is unfit to be an heir and will be cut out of the inheritance," Hiashi Hyuuga continues from his seat. "His currently owned share of the family company will be relinquished to Himawari Hyugga by the end of the year."**_

 _ **x-x-x-x-x**_

 _ **"Whoaa," Inojin laughs. "Sarada your dad's a savage."**_

 _ **"I know," I grin, slightly proud. "But he did mention something that got me thinking."**_

 _ **"What is it?" Mitsuki asks.**_

 _ **"It's August first," I state, in the swivel chair beside Boruto. "I start school in early September, so Sasuke's right about me only having so much time left in Japan. If I'm being honest I probably have more or less than a month really." There's this silence in the room that follows. I didn't mean to make the atmosphere all solemn. "Come on guys we knew I wasn't going to stay here forever."**_

 _ **"Well, yeah," Shikadai stammers, at a loss for words for once. "It's just, we didn't think the summer would go by so fast." And it definitely did.**_

 _ **Boruto exhales a little, leaning back in his chair. "So, what's the plan now then?" Boruto speaks up.**_


	22. Worth It Pt1

**Chapter 22: Worth It Pt1**

 _ **The big turning point. It's the beginning of August, Sarada's last month of summer. Knowing this, life continues as normal throughout the Uchiha Mansion - but Sasuke and Naruto receive some unnerving news from the Konoha Enterprise Summit**_ Meeting. _ **Meanwhile, Sarada and the boys start to contemplate on the final stage of their plan for their summer.**_

* * *

"And everything's on file?"

"Seems like it," Naruto exhales, clicking after click after click on Sasuke's computer.

The two men read behind Sasuke's desk at his office. A huge corporate meeting is coming up the next day, and the two fathers are doing their best to prepare. The office smells of strong peppermint tea that Hinata prepared for them, to help ease their denying nerves. "Got all the topics written down? I'll review them in the car ride," Sasuke notes, standing behind Naruto's seat.

"Me too," Naruto says, unusually tense and serious.

Sasuke looks from the monitor to his friend. "You know the subject of the Hyuuga Inheritance is gonna come up too."

"Yeah I know," Naruto admits, hating thinking about it. "As both Hinata's children, Himawari and Boruto both have shares to the Hyuuga company, not that the kids particularly care at the moment. But.. they're thinking of cutting off Boruto completely."

"I didn't know this," Sasuke narrows, not liking being in the know. "You never told me?"

"I thought it was just my paranoia, but Hinata seems pretty sure," Naruto frowns, not happy with it either. "It's still up for negotiation, but you know the Hyuugas."

"Why just Boruto?"

"Because he's my kid," Naruto says, not like it's news. "Both of them are. If they're going to invest in one of them to one day run the Hyuuga Company then it may as well be the one they're schooling." Himawari was a clear favorite of the Hyuugas after they took her away from Naruto and Hinata. That was a fact. Even Boruto knew it. Sasuke can only shake his head, not agreeing with this either but knowing there was nothing he could do to interfere.

Boruto and I sit outside the office doors. Locked. We've been listening in, just barley hearing their last conversation. "Why is your family so messed up?" I whisper, a little sad. "And that's coming from me."

"I dunno," Boruto sighs, finally tearing his ear away from the door. "I don't really care but I know my parents feel terrible about it. I hate that my family treats my parents like this." He scoffs and laughs it off. "Rich people eh?"

I half smile and lean away from the door too. It's been a little while since the Gala and the events that followed that night. A few days. But now we have the actual ball that the mansion will be hosting coming up this week - and this afternoon is this huge gigantic summit meeting between Sasuke's company and, well, a bunch of other rich companies. What they'll be talking about is beyond me and even Boruto, but I've never seen our dads this nervous and uptight about anything before.

"Hey you guys," Hinata calls, coming around the corner. "Would you guys mind helping me set up the tea in the backyard?"

"Coming!" We call out, straightening up and coming down the hall.

Along with all the pomp and ceremony this week, apparently our family has invited that woman Kanna and her son Izumi (that annoying kid from the Gala I got kidnapped for)over. Why we have to have tea with them, I have no idea. But Sasuke's 'encouraged' Boruto and me to grin and bear it. It's a formality-kind-of luncheon, before Sasuke Naruto and Kanna head over to the big meeting.

The mansion backyard patio is beautifully designed with tons of potted plants, tended to often by the help. A fairly sized garden table sits in the middle with an umbrella in it's middle, and a couple wicker chairs with floral pillows around it. We help Hinata carry various pieces of a tea set and set up a small lunch together.

I can see a couple of the maids setting up string lights along the backyard statues and trees. "What are the lights for?" I ask curiously.

"For the Ball this Friday," Hinata answers, and I hold back my instinctive frown. "The yard will be open to guests for mingling as well that night."

"Weee~," Boruto responds sarcastically enthusiastic. I can't deny I'm a little less than excited about the party too. After all the madness that went on this past week already, I'm so done with rich-people gatherings.

"Hey it'll be different this time," Itachi's reasonable voice chimes in, coming from the kitchen doors. He's holding a three layer tray of finger sandwiches to add to our luncheon set up. "The ball will be in your own home, and you'll have your own personal security. What happened at the Gala isn't going to happen again here."

I'm usually very trusting of Itachi, but I'm still pretty wary. Makes me remember what I used to complain about when I had problems back home. They seem so minuscule or different at least compared to problems now.

"I'm going to start making the tea. I'll be right back," Hinata smiles, leaving us outside with Itachi.

"So is Sai going to design for us again?" I speak up, for conversation.

"Inojin mentioned his dad already left for business in Europe already," Boruto answers for me. "Always on the go."

"But we'll have another designer," Itachi assures. "And apparently _you_ Sarada will have your own personal one."

"Me?" I blink, pointing at myself. Boruto grins. Did he know about this?

"A little set up from Sasuke," Itachi winks. "Thought you could use the pick-me-up."

"It's super fun having your own personal designer to focus on you," Boruto agrees, looking suddenly super excited for me.

At some point within the hour, the dreaded doorbell rings and the arrival of Izumi and his mother comes about. Hinata invites them into the house for tea in the backyard with me, Boruto, and Sasuke and Naruto as well. All formalities, I imagine. From what Naruto mentioned this morning briefly during breakfast, this tea/lunch meeting is more a preceding for the summit meeting tomorrow - which Izumi's mother will be attending too.

"I'll be representing the Yamamoto Family at the summit meeting this afternoon," Kanna states after sipping her tea. "I assume you two will be showing up together again."

"Representing the Uchiha Company and the Hyuuga Family respectively," Sasuke responds.

Boruto and I sit together to the right of Naruto, and across Izumi as well. We've been merely silent spectators to the adults' conversations, as instructed. It would've been pretty boring if not for the obvious tension I can read at the table. Boruto glaring at Izumi the entire time, Izumi's fake confidence yet clear intimidation from Boruto's presence. Naruto's clear dislike for the woman sitting across from him. And Sasuke being as professionally stoic as ever. I almost wish Itachi was here to break the seriousness of it all.

"So Sarada," Kanna says, bringing her attention towards me all of a sudden. I swallow and unconsciously sit up a little straighter. "Tell me about yourself."

"What would you like to know?"

"What's your home like? With your parents back in the states?" Kanna asks. "Or are your an orphan?"

Who asks that kind of question so straightforwardly? "I live with my mother back home." Unknowingly the men on my side of the table tense up. It's slowly turning into an interrogation kind of interview, and everyone's watching for my answers.

"Single mother? No father?"

"Nope," I reply curtly, and suspiciously. Boruto don't freeze up so much.

"What a strong woman," Kanna commends in a way I think is a little fake. "Do you think you take after her or your father? If you've ever met him."

"We've never met," I lie well.

Naruto swallows, and Sasuke blinks once, trying not to show it in his face.

"I never did get a chance to thank you in person, Sasuke," Kanna goes on, luckily dropping her interest in me at another sip of her tea. "The night of the Gala you two went out and retrieved my son and the children. Pretty unexpected, considering your normally passive nature, Sasuke." His facial expression doesn't change. "But you had nothing to worry about in the end. My son took good care of your daughter until the proper authorities arrived to the scene."

" _Yeah right_ -" Boruto mutters, only for me to kick him under the table. I bite my lip from saying something too. The smug look on Izumi's face, still reveling in his fake glory, pisses me off too. As if _we all_ didn't see him cowering the whole night while we did all the work. Whatever. What a loser.

"I should be the one thanking you, then," Sasuke responds, almost robotically. He knows damn well Izumi didn't do crap, but he seems to be playing along effortlessly.

"You should be thanking me by treating me out to dinner after the big meeting this evening," Kanna suggests cooly, this steely look in her pale blue eyes. "You're not doing anything after are you?" Oh dear god. I-Is she hitting on Sasuke?

I stare a little at her face studying and judging her features. Her too red lips, her heavy eyeliner and darkly-drawn eyebrows. Somehow I can tell she's a mean woman, based on Ino's and Naruto's interactions with her. And now that I've spent a solid fifteen minutes with her, _especially_ now that she's coming onto Sasuke -

 _I don't like her._

"I'm afraid that'll be an inconvenience," Sasuke says straightforwardly. Oh damn. "The summer is coming to a close soon as well as Sarada's stay in Japan. She and I have plans together after the summit." You know what the best part about this moment is? Sasuke and I totally don't have any plans. He's lying straight through his teeth to shoot her down. It takes all I can to not chuckle or twitch my lip. I sip some tea to help hide it all.

Kanna's mouth twitches as she tries to maintain her cool smile. Boruto's trying to hide his laughter by biting his lip at the corner of my eye, and he follows along with me by drinking his tea too.

"Perhaps during another one of your visits," Sasuke offers. My dad is too cool.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"A-And, haha a-and, then he called her an 'INCONVENIENCE'!" Boruto retells, almost falling out of his chair. I giggle a little too. Definitely a moment to tell in an email to Chouchou.

With that short but horrid luncheon with the Yamamotos done and over with, Boruto and I wasted no time in our fake goodbyes before running up to the safety of his bedroom. We're on video chat on his laptop with Inojin, Mitsuki and Shikadai again. We were afraid Izumi would be invited to stay at the mansion with us while the adults left, so we ran before that chance could happen. Hopefully that creep just went home.

"Whoaa," Inojin laughs. "Sarada your dad's a savage."

"I know," I grin, slightly proud. "But he did mention something that got me thinking."

"What is it?" Mitsuki asks.

"It's August first," I state, in the swivel chair beside Boruto. "I start school in early September, so Sasuke's right about me only having so much time left in Japan. If I'm being honest I probably have more or less than a month really." There's this silence in the room that follows. I didn't mean to make the atmosphere all solemn. "Come on guys we knew I wasn't going to stay here forever."

"Well, yeah," Shikadai stammers, at a loss for words for once. "It's just, we didn't think the summer would go by so fast." And it definitely did.

Boruto exhales a little, leaning back in his chair. "So, what's the plan now then?" Boruto speaks up. "Itachi and my dad know. We know. Your prison-break babysitters from hell know." God what a dramatic name. "Are you gonna tell Sasuke or...?"

"I dunno," I answer honestly, feeling like I'm going in circles every time someone asks me what my plan' is. "I know I _do_ want my mom and dad to meet. I want my mom to know Sasuke never abandoned us and, I want Sasuke to know my mom's like, _not_ dead." That'd be so great.

"Aaaand?" Inojin pushes, smiling a little.

I share in his contagious mischievous smile. I can't help it. "And, it'd be nice if they got to make up, re-spark their old love again. Live happily ever after," I daze around with a smiley eye roll. "Not ideal or realistic in the least, but meeting again I can definitely aim for." I'd be lying though if I said I didn't want them to fall in love with each other again.

"So how're you going to get them to meet?" Shikadai asks seriously.

"Well," I start, "I imagined after rehearsing it a few more times I come out and tell Sasuke the truth - plain and simple. I think getting him past the shock that my mom's alive is a little easier than telling my mom-"

"That your grandpa was a dickwad?" Boruto intervenes.

I glare. "That there were unusual circumstances that led to the Uchiha family doing what they did," I reword. "Then, _I imagine_ , Sasuke would have no choice but to fly me back personally once my mom returns from her business trip in Paris. We meet up back in the states, they catch up for however long they have, and part ways civilly."

"Wouldn't you want them to get back together instead?" Mitsuki asks me.

"Of course," I smile sympathetically. "But I don't think it'll happen that easily."

"Be open to surprises," Boruto encourages, and I smile back. Be open. That definitely works too.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

A huge monitor sits at the front of the room with a podium, and a huge circle of seats fill the cold and well lit room. A bottle of water and a pen sit in front of each seat as the suits start to arrive and fill them in. Sasuke and Naruto enter together as they always do, amidst other company owners - including Kanna Yamamoto.

It's an annual meeting that multiple companies under the Konoha District Enterprise have when single representatives of important family businesses can talk out their grievances in person and asses yearly progress or matters.

One of the unfortunate matters being one between the Hyuugas and the infamous marriage between Naruto and Hinata Hyuuga, the former heir to her family's company. Representing the Hyuuga was a traditional elder, Hiashi Hyuuga. And they got down to matters without wasting any time on sentimentality.

"But he's the first born son of your first born daughter," the lead spectator of the meeting addresses to Hiashi.

"Boruto is your _grandson_ ," Naruto pushes, trying to maintain his professional composure. At the moment the room's current discussion revolved around the matter of the future of the Hyuuga Company.

"He's not even fit to be a Hyuuga," the man narrows, his pale eyes old and wrinkling with age and tradition. "Hinata's daughter Himawari Hyuuga is years well into her studies and is under tight grooming to take over the company when she is of age. When I die, not only will she take over, but the Hyuuga Council has unanimously decided that she too will also the the sole inheritor of both her's, mine, and Boruto's shares of the company."

"Wait-," Naruto flinches.

"Boruto is unfit to be an heir and will be cut out of the inheritance," Hiashi Hyuuga continues from his seat. "His currently owned share of the family company will be relinquished to Himawari Hyugga by the end of the year."

"Y-You can't be serious!" Naruto stands from his seat. Normally Sasuke would hold his friend down, but this matter didn't involve him. Sasuke remains quiet in his seat, his face resting behind his two folded hands held up to his chin as he observes. "This isn't what Hinata would've wanted."

"Our decision is final," Hiashi Hyuuga answers firmly. "This discussion is over."

The disappointment and disbelief in Naruto's eyes are evident. Everyone in the room knew this treatment was solely because of Naruto's lineage as a commoner, and if they couldn't take out their frustrations with Hinata's marriage on both her kids - they could at least focus it all on one by shunning them out completely. Hiashi Hyuuga hasn't even made the effort to visit his only grandson, purposefully favoring Himawari.

After that among many other matters were discussed over the meeting, the president of the Konoha District Enterprise brings up the next topic of discussion. "Moving onto our next matter," she says, clearing her throat as she puts her glasses on to fear from a paper. "The Konoha District Enterprise announces the merging between two of our highest leading companies."

Silence follows, along with shock amongst those in the room. "A merging?" Sasuke mutters under his breath.

"Between the Yamamoto Company and the Uchiha Company," the president announces, and at that instant Sasuke's eyes connect with Kana's cunning ones across the room. Her dark red lips curl into this sly smile, and Sasuke can't help but feel uneasy. "The progress these two family businesses have made and the contributions they've made to our causes is by far the best example of what we're capable of for the coming years. A public merging of these two spotlight companies will be good for us. This matter is not up for debate."

"We can't just say yes to that can we?" Naruto whispers to Sasuke, who remains silent. "Right?"

"Well I don't wanna marry her if that's what you're thinking," Sasuke mutters, a little stumped actually. "I don't think saying no through is going to be as easy as it sounds of this decision is coming from the higher ups."

"Well that's stupid," Naruto pouts, sinking in his seat.

"It's encouraged that a marriage union to seal the families together between Sasuke Uchiha and Kanna Yamamoto goes forth," the woman reads, sparking up Naruto and Sasuke's attention. "Traditionally heirs from both companies would be selected for the traditional union for the sake of the merge, but seeing as the Uchihas have no current heirs, Sasuke and Kanna's wedding will be public and final." She glances up, with an unquestionable stare. "This meeting will take a temporary break and reconvene in half an hour," the president announces. "Sasuke, Kanna, I suggest you two talk over what I just spoke about and give me your input after we return."

Most if not all the adults stand from their seats for their lunch break, and Naruto and Sasuke remain in their seats, letting it sink in what just happened. "Hey Sasuke," Kana walks over. The clicks of her heels barely resounded around the room to the two men. "Can we talk in private?"

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"I propose, that your daughter marry my son instead," Kanna smiles, admiring her new nails.

Sasuke's eyes spark open, and he almost trips on himself. The two are standing quietly by the office vending machine, holding two coffees. He retains his composure, ignoring the tense grip on his drink. "How long have you known?"

"A while," she smiles. "I found documentation on the little brat after digging intensely for the past few months. A woman can tell," she brags, finally adverting her attention from her nails to Sasuke's eyes. "It was exactly the blackmail I needed before flying out here to see you again."

"You want to blackmail me," Sasuke scoffs.

"I'm willing to spring this all up to the board," she says with an eyebrow raise. "You think I'm bluffing? Try me," she laughs. "If the board finds out you have a kid, they'll demand engagement of Sarada and my son. You know how it goes. They're about the same age aren't they? They'd be perfect for each other."

"Don't you even-"

"What," she threatens, a winning look on her porcelain face. "You're in no position to call the shots, Sasuke. _I am_. So, unless you want me to expose little Sarada, you'll accept this marriage with me before the board."

Sasuke bites his lip. Heirs. That's always been an issue with him he's always danced around. The only thing keeping his mouth shut about opposing the idea is the threat of Sarada unwillingly having to marry someone she doesn't know because it's her duty as an Uchiha. And he couldn't imagine burdening her like that.

The short intermission break doesn't last as long as many would have liked, and before too soon all the adults are back in the meeting room. Naruto is waiting impatiently in his chair with his friend's empty seat beside him. his fingers tap om the table, young habits like fidgeting and lip biting returning all too fast. Naruto notices Kana's chair also one of those still empty as people slowly return.

The unlikely couple are one of the last to come back into the room before the summit meeting resumes.

"And your decisions, Sasuke Uchiha and Kana Yamamoto?" the president requests.

Naruto notices Kana and Sasuke graze eyes across the room before Sasuke stands up in his seat, all attention on him now for his answer on the matter. "Kana and I are on board with the merge," Sasuke starts, and Naruto blinks in disbelief. "We will make the engagement public as well as the merging of our companies at the Uchiha Mansion Ball."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Sasuke this is insane!" Naruto lectures within their limousine. They're currently on the way home to the mansion, sitting across from one another under heated discussion. "We went to this meeting to get shit done, not get you a wife! That no one wants!"

"The merging of the Uchiha and Yamamoto corporations came as a surprise," Sasuke reasons honestly. His mind already played every scenario out of this situation. "The Konoha Enterprise reps are our superiors. I don't own a hundred percent of the Uchiha Company - you know that."

"You could've said no!?" Naruto tries to argue, feeling like hes going crazy. "This is such bullshit, and you know it! You getting married? We've gotta talk to the kids. How are you even gonna tell them? What the hell did that con woman say to corner you because you wouldn't do this willingly-"

"Kana knew about Sarada," Sasuke says seriously. Naruto stops. "She knows shes my daughter."

"W-Wait how-?"

"Doesn't matter," Sasuke cuts off. "Point here is she has the upper hand, as much as I hate to admit it. She threatened to reveal it at the board meeting."

"Then..." Naruto starts to piece it together. "If the reps knew you had an heir-"

"They'd have Sarada marry Kana's son for the merge instead," Sasuke confirms. There's a solemn cornered silence in the limo between the two fathers. Its a losing battle either way. "I can't drag her into this."

"No, no I understand," Naruto says somewhat calmer, and somewhat defeated too. "Damn..." Sasuke at the moment realizes a little why his mom and Itachi went to such lengths to hide Sarada. "So... what are you going to do?"

"I'm getting married, I guess," Sasuke shrugs, feeling odd saying it out loud. Even he sounds defeated in tone. Its all sinking in.

Naruto leans over, rubbing his hands together. "Are you gonna tell Sarada that you know?" Naruto asks, referring to their father daughter relationship. "Before or after the wedding? You know how these corporate merging go. It'll happen sooner than you think."

"I cant," Sasuke closes his eyes. "I was planning on telling her at some point but right now its probably better we just remain as we are. It'll be better this way."

"I disagree," Naruto frowns sadly. " You're seriously considering separating without ever like... coming out with everything?"

"It'll be easier," Sasuke repeats sternly, as if telling himself that too.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

I'm upstairs later that evening in my nightwear, brushing my teeth. My hair has grown about maybe half an inch I notice in the mirror. That talk with the boys earlier this afternoon had me thinking eventually about the _whole_ summer so far. I still remember Iwabe cutting my hair, and reopening my old pair of glasses to make up this new look. I remember my friends giving me their savings before my trip. I remember running into Boruto at their airport, and our terrible start to a friendship.

And now... here I am. Brushing my teeth wondering how this is all going to end. Because one way or another, I'm getting on that plane back home. And... I don't know what's going to happen by then.

"Miss Sarada," a maid's voice calls from outside. I peer out of the bathroom with my toothbrush still in my mouth to see one of the familiar maids standing at the door. "Master Sasuke and Naruto have returned from their meeting. They've requested a house-meeting in the ballroom. I've come to collect you." An in house meeting. That's, pretty formal sounding.

After spitting out my toothpaste I walk with the maid down the hall towards the main staircase down to the ballroom, where I see a majority of the mansion staff gathered around the room, alongside Hinata and Itachi downstairs, with Naruto and Sasuke in the middle of it all. Boruto stands at the top of the stairwell banister, leaning on it.

"Hey," I greet, coming up to him. "What's this all about?"

"Not sure," he responds. "The last time Sasuke called a meeting like this was when I put a stink bomb in the mansion's airducts."

Of course you did. "How'd that go?" I laugh.

"Not well," Boruto laughs too, watching the adults below. "Fair to say we haven't had a meeting like that since. And I was eight."

"Must be serious then," I suppose, placing my hands on the banister and looking down too.

"Alright everyone, listen up!" Naruto begins, clapping his hands twice. Their fairly level faces tell me this isn't particularly a 'great announcement', and I furrow my eyebrows. is everything okay? "We uh, we have a pretty big announcement for everybody."

"Concerning the Konoha Enterprise Summit Meeting," Sasuke adds on, to narrow down people's already uneasy expectations. Sasuke looks, troubled. He never looks troubled. "I'm... I'm getting married."

The rest of reality slows.

My knees feel shaky.

What did Sasuke just say?

"It was a decision of the higher ups that Kanna Yamamoto and I join together and merge companies," Sasuke announces, to an already reactive room. All of the staff is whispering, with worry concern and shock all together. "This decision is final, and the announcement will be made public at the Ball to the press this Friday. I ask that all of you keep this under wraps until that night, and prepare for it as you've been. This merging won't affect any of your job statuses, which is why I decided to tell you all tonight. You're all dismissed for the evening, thank you."

Hesitantly, all the butlers and maids in waiting slowly disperse, unsure how to react to such news. Hinata meanwhile in her own shock rushes down the stairs past the maids to Naruto and Sasuke, as if to demand her own personal explanation of how the meeting went.

Boruto and I remain frozen at the top of the banister where we were listening. Boruto's in completely shock himself, his mouth dry and his eyes finally blinking. "W-What just happened?" For the first time in my life, I've felt heartbreak. My heart is literally tearing itself to pieces.

"This can't be..." I murmur, trying to regain sense in my hands. Or my feet

Boruto frowns, only imagining what must be going through my head. "Sarada...-"

I run off before I can hear any of it. I don't want to be consoled. I refuse to accept what I just heard. This is just a small nightmare. I'm asleep, waiting for Sasuke to come home. And when I wake up - I, i don't know.

Sasuke's being bombarded by Hinata's questions that Naruto can only hope to slow down, and in between him trying to soothe his hysterically confused wife, Sasuke notices my fast get away above the stairs, and Boruto left behind calling out to me. Sasuke's eyes narrow down sadly. Guiltily.

I run with tears down my face to my bedroom, bursting in and slamming the door shut as I breathe in and out, about to crack. I toss my glasses and wipe my face with my arms, and by then they just don't stop coming out. I sink against the door to the floor, crying like an immature brat. Is it wrong for me to feel this way? _Sasuke's, getting married_? When did this happen? Why did he look so defeated when saying it? And to that _terrible_ woman?

"Sarada," Boruto's voice on the other side knocks. "Sarada it's me let me in," he says quickly.

Deducing very quickly I want a friend, I wipe my face with my shirt one more time and wobble to a stand. Quickly I open the door to see a surprised Boruto, who wastes no time coming in and shutting the door behind him. Seeing my sudden change in state he has no time to react to me thrusting a hug over him. He freezes for only a moment before returning the comforting hug.

No questions need to be asked. He already knew how I felt.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Whoa...," Inojin breathes out, after Boruto and I explain the situation. He and I are sitting on my bed with my laptop open to an emergency group call with the guys again. It took a while to convince them that we had something serious to talk about. Inojin, Mitsuki and Shikadai were in the middle of a heated online video game battle. Luckily Boruto stepped up for me and explained most of what just happened. And now, the three of them are on the screen all speechless for once.

I, meanwhile, have calmed down significantly. My eyes are just red now, but I'm hugging a pillow over my lap for comfort.

"Yeah..." Boruto finishes, unsure how to react himself now either.

"Can they, do that?" I speak up, my nose still a little stuffy from the crying. "Force Sasuke to marry someone else?"

"I mean..." Shikadai begins awkwardly. He scratches the back of his neck.

"No offence Sarada, but commoner marriages and uh, _our_ marriages are pretty different," Inojin explains.

"What Inojin means to say is that people like us don't usually marry for just love," Shikadai corrects, rather casually but carefully. "It's usually to benefit business, for money, to build good relationships between families, tradition - what have you."

"Yeah, what he said," Inojin frowns, not particularly happy either about that truth.

"Seriously?" I cringe, looking to Mitsuki for any facial sign of a joke. And to Boruto too. "Is this really what you guys think will happen to you when you get older?"

"It's how my parents got together," Inojin shrugs.

"And mine," Shikadai admits.

"It's just how things are, Sarada," Mitsuki consoles. "And we've never really questioned it."

At that instant I turn to Boruto. "What about your parents?" I ask nervously.

"My parents were lucky," Boruto says. "And look where they are already. They don't exactly have it easy on my mom's side of the family."

"Still, marriages should be built on love. Not some, business deal," I say with distaste and passion. "I can't speak for all 'commoner-marriages' but I definitly don't believe in marrying somebody you don't love."

"What about divorce?" Mitsuki asks, a purely curious question. "I heard that sometimes love isn't enough to hold a marriage together in the commoner-world. What happens when the love runs out?"

Geez Mitsuki of all the sentimental question to ask me you ask this one? Now? "I used to think about that too," I tell them, while realizing I'm hugging this pillow tighter. "All my life I thought my mom was a single parent because love failed her. Even if that wasn't the case, that's just life, Mitsuki," I laugh. "Love is unpredictable. _Life_ is unpredictable. When two people love each other and get married, they don't know if it's gonna work. They just... hope." I take a deep breath. "My love for my father brought me here to this place... and to you guys too. Trusting in love isn't wrong."

Inojin lets out a short laugh. "Cheesy much?"

"Make fun of me as much as you want," I smile. Did I just accidentally pep talk myself? "Love is definitely worth risking and fighting for."

"I agree," Boruto speaks up, surprising me and the others together. Boruto frowns. "What, I can't agree?"

"It's just shocking," Mitsuki comments straightforwardly. Oh my god I love him.

Boruto rolls his eyes and play shoves me. "I think the commoners may be onto something. And if I'm as lucky as my folks maybe I'll have that choice when I'm older too."

"I hope you all do," I smile.

Shikadai smiles lazily in his computer chair, noticing the new atmosphere in the corner of his monitor with Boruto and me in my room. However his sly observation gets interrupted by the sound of a knock on my door.

"Sarada? It's me," Sasuke calls from outside my room.

I lower the screen of my laptop, but don't close it entirely so the guys can hear. " _I'll get on from my laptop in my room_ ," Boruto whispers to me, jumping off my bed. Right after Sasuke opens the door. "I was just saying goodnight," Boruto grins nervously. He bows his head. "Uh, congratulations on the engagement, Sasuke."

Sasuke nods, not quite sure how to receive his first congratulatory. And from Naruto's son nonetheless. "Get some rest. It's late."

"Yes sir," Boruto bids, picking himself back up and leaving the room. I can feel Boruto look back at me before closing the door behind him.

"Hey," I say to Sasuke, mentally bracing myself.

"Can we talk?" he asks, looking tired. I nod, and move my laptop to the side so Sasuke can sit with me on the bed.

Outside, as soon as Boruto daintily shuts the door, he breaks into a spring for his room down the hall. He almost trips when he turns the corner to his door, shutting it and the lights and locking it. He grabs his laptop and earphones form his desk and hurries quickly into bed string everything up. Entering his friend's video chat online, he's met with their screens and mine, all dark from being almost closed. Everyone seems to be very focused, listening in on the conversation happening.

"So..." I start, sitting beside Sasuke on the bed. "You're, getting married."

"I am," Sasuke replies, as if still wrapping his head around it. The way he sounds, there's no way he could've known about this before today.

 _What happened at that meeting?_ "You don't have to," I suddenly say without thinking. But it's too late. Gotta commit. "I-If this is business related or something the Uchiha Company can stand on it's own, independent of the Konoha enterprise, right?"

I'm kind of just throwing information out there without really knowing much about it. But it's taking everything I have to not break down into an emotional wreck. "You're not wrong," Sasuke admits, choosing his wording carefully. He bites his lip. It's been a work-in-progress of his, having the Uchiha Company stand independently from the Konoha Enterprise, though easier said than done. And he'd be more than willing to risk it now and stand apart from the higher ups - if it wasn't for Kanna's ultimatum.

 _"If the board finds out you have a kid, they'll demand engagement of Sarada and my son. You know how it goes. They're about the same age aren't they? They'd be perfect for each other."_

 _"Don't you even-"_

 _"What," she threatens, a winning look on her porcelain face. "You're in no position to call the shots, Sasuke. I am. So, unless you want me to expose little Sarada, you'll accept this marriage with me before the board."_

"It's complicated adult stuff you don't have to worry about," Sasuke surmises, putting a comforting hand over my head. I used to get annoyed with Sasuke doing that, messing up my hair. And he knew it bugged me too, which is why he probably did it a lot. But now, I'm wondering how many more times he'll get to do that. "I should also mention that talking with the board and Kanna earlier, once we announce our engagement at the Ball two days from now, the ceremony will happen within two weeks after."

"S-So soon?"

Sasuke nods, solemnly. "And after that, we'll have to make arrangements for your return home."

My eyes widen, and I hold my mouth from twitching open. Meanwhile from my laptop, hearing everything loud and clear, the guys all gasp silently from where they're listening. Boruto's holding his breath from his room. _She's, going home?_

"I'm sorry," Sasuke apologizes, with a hint of a fake laugh. His hand on my head turns into a one armed hug, pulling me into his side as if to comfort me. "If it was up to me you know I'd let you stay. But, the honeymoon will take place overseas. It'll also be for business so we'll be gone for three months. It's no use letting you stay here if I'm not here."

"I... I understand," I say emptily, my head leaning against his shoulder and chest. This moment with my dad. These moments. They're numbered now.

Sasuke sounds like he wants to say one more thing, but he cuts himself of and just kissing the top of my head. "Thanks for hearing me out. I'll let you sleep. Good night Sarada."

"Good night Sasuke," I say back, too emotionally paralyzed to hug him back like I usually do. Sasuke stands back up and leaves the room, turning off my lights and closing the door for me.

I'm left in the dark, sitting alone. My body's shaking a little, and I can't tell if I'm panicking or about to cry, but I slowly huddle myself back into my blankets, taking off my already fogging glasses.

" _Sarada!_ _Sarada are you still there?!_ " Shikadai's lowered volume voice shouts from my laptop.

" _Sarada!"_ Boruto calls out too. But I just pull the covers over my head. The guys can hear faint muffled crying coming from beyond my black screen. The boys look at one another through their video chat.

 _It's over now._

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

LOCATION: PARIS, FRANCE.

At the third floor of a fancy Parisian restaurant sits a more private cafe, for the city's wealthier patrons. The air feels fresh and smells of pastries, flowers and coffee. A private table with fancy desserts and tea sits between two people, the table adorned with some paperwork and sketches of the most gorgeous designs you can imagine.

The man of the pair, Sai, goes between some letters and in between some important correspondence, while his companion for the day sips her tea in between picking up a darker charcoal pencil for her current drafts. "You're not approving those designs? ValleyStyle is expecting them first thing tomorrow morning," the woman advises.

"Hn," Sai chuckles, discovering a little dented postcard hiding between some letters. "My secretary handed me a lot of mail I missed here during my trip to Japan."

Sai curiously pulls out the smaller piece of parchment. No envelope - just a printed postcard photograph of me, Inojin, Shikadai, Boruto and Mitsuki. And on the back some handwritten addresses and a condensed message on the left. His son's handwriting. He had to admit, Sai had never received a postcard before, much less anything from his son. It was quaint, and well appreciated.

The girl across him scoffs. "Are you actually smiling, Sai?"

"I guess I am," Sai says, reading the small message telling him about his son's summer so far. "My son sent me a postcard." The woman's pencil stops, and her tea cup shakes a little before she can settle it back down on the saucer. "It seems he's doing well. Ino, too."

"Is that him? On the back of that postcard?"

Sai turns the small paper around, seeing the glossy print of the smiling children. "Yes it is. Would you like to see?"

Sai cordially hands his coworker the postcard across the table. The woman takes it, and with a quick over-glance at the writing on the back, she turns it around and sees the photo of the kids. The girl in particular catches her eye. Her heart-rate rises, the hairs on her arms stand, and her hands are suddenly cold.

Sai smiles his ever-present smile. "Are you alright, there Sakura?"

The pink haired woman's hand is almost shaking, and her teeth are gritting against each other. Her eye twitching, and a very unhappy and calm 'smile' is plastered upon her usually graceful face. It takes all she can to not crumple Sai's sentimental postcard into a ball. "I'm gonna kill Karin and Sasuke."

* * *

 **SAKURA'S HERE. AND SHE KNOWS.**

 **I've been dying to write that small scene for forever. 'Yall know shit's about to go down now haha. Thank you again for keeping up with the story you guys and for being so patient! Life's been busy as you guys can relate too haha. Been busy with taxes and work and etc. Hope you guys enjoy!**

 **PREVIEW:**

 _ **Naruto yawns, plying praying most of these messages are just telemarketers he can button-press his way through. Anything to get him back in bed faster.**_

 _ **He's about to skip through one more message before realizing the voice pattern was a little more sporadic. It was an actual voice mail. Confused, Naruto presses the replay button for that specific voicemail.**_

 _ **"Hello. Forgive me for calling, but this is Sakura Haruno speaking." Naruto's eyes crack open, and his once lazy posture stiffens as his hand resting over half his face has now become a metaphorical wall between him and the phone.**_

 _ **"Oh hell no," Naruto whispers. His damn luck.**_

 _ **x-x-x-x-x-x**_

 ** _"You have to admit, we're a little stuck right now," I explain, giving up on my soggy cereal. "I wasn't expecting Sasuke to get engaged. What the hell am I supposed to do about that?"_**

 ** _"Tell him your secret?"_**

 ** _I shake my head. "I don't think him knowing would give him the power to do anything. It'd just add more stuff to his plate."_**

 ** _"Are you even going to tell him?" Boruto asks. "At all..?"_**

 ** _I think about it. I've been stalling it for a while, but I'm running out of time. "I'll tell him after the ball tomorrow," I decide then and there._**

 _ **x-x-x-x-x-x**_

 _ **"Not the point," Naruto pants. "We're in trouble."**_

 _ **"What why?"**_

 _ **"Your MOM called," Naruto says accusatory to me.**_

 _ **This thumping in my heart starts. The majorly uncomfortable kind. "Wait she's here?" I repeat.**_


	23. Dramatic Collisions Pt1

**Chapter 23: Dramatic Collisions Pt1**

 _ **With Sasuke's engagement underway, all seems lost for Sarada's summer plan. However with Sakura on her way to Japan, it's up to Naruto and the kids to intervene and catch her before Sasuke does. However preparations for the ball are also underway. This becomes the biggest challenge yet as certain faces try to keep hidden. Secrets are let out, and final decisions are made. Can Sarada settle for whatever happens by the end of the day of her mom's arrival?**_

* * *

It's Thursday morning now, August 2, the day before the big Uchiha Mansion Ball - and the day before Sasuke announces his engagement to Kanna. I'll admit, moments before I fell asleep crying to myself last night, I was racking my brain trying to strategize any way out of this mess. Any way Sasuke can back out of the marriage. Every time I'd corner myself into a wall until I tired myself to sleep.

Early that morning, Naruto lazily and sleepily trudges his way through the mansion in his sweats and pajamas, groggily rubbing his eyes as he carefully made his way down the ballroom staircase. "It's too early for this crap."

Normally how Sasuke starts his mornings, is he wakes up early enough (before Naruto) to head to his office and check his phone messages. It takes a little longer than expecting running through them all, so Sasuke usually prepares early for that work-chore. However, Kanna ended up getting to the mansion first (somehow at 6am) and persuading just-woken-up Sasuke that with a little over two weeks left to prepare for their wedding, they needed to spend the afternoon planning. First and foremost, buying rings.

With that in mind...

Naruto was left with a heavily urgent (almost threatening) favor by Sasuke, before being whisked away by his 'fiance', to check his voice mails first thing in the morning. Naruto, being the best second-in-command he can be, is forcing himself to at least do this favor, then he can go back to sleep and continue his share of work later in an hour or two.

Naruto opens the doors to their office, as physically presentable as can be. Sasuke would never allow him to enter their office in such attire. But the man didn't give a shit right now.

Naruto rolls up to Sasuke's desk and lazily hits the button on his answering machine. _"YOU HAVE. 54_ MESSAGES," says the machine. Naruto's eyes bug out. "How the hell does this man acquire fifty messages over one night?" He hangs his head, scratching his hair. "May as well start somewhere." Naruto sets to play the first message as he sits by with a notepad. He's noted Sasuke doing this before - skipping past voicemails that began like an ad. Naruto likewise skips the first three.

 _"Hello! Would you be interested in-"_ Skip.

 _" . . THE SOUTA RESEARCH MARKET. ._ -" Skip.

Naruto yawns, plying praying most of these messages are just telemarketers he can button-press his way through. Anything to get him back in bed faster.

He's about to skip through one more message before realizing the voice pattern was a little more sporadic. It was an actual voice mail. Confused, Naruto presses the replay button for that specific message.

" _Hello. Forgive me for calling, but this is Sakura Haruno speaking._ " Naruto's eyes crack open, and his once lazy posture stiffens as his hand resting over half his face has now become a metaphorical wall between him and the phone.

"Oh hell no," Naruto whispers. His damn luck.

" _I know this might sound a little crazy but uh," she laughs, "I think you have my daughter over there. Her name is Sarada Haruno. Sasuke I don't know if it's you listening to this or your secretary or whoever, but I want you to know I did NOT approve of this whatsoever. I know I don't sound upset right now and that's because I'm trying to stay professional and-"_ there's a crash in the background of the phone. _"And I'm busy packing. Look, I don't wanna make a big deal out of this because I trust you okay? I KNOW Sarada's alright, and she better be or so help me-"_

Naruto's never met this Sakura woman. And she _is_ maintaining a rather professional/casual tone over the phone. But that being said, how she speaks anyway, is scaring the crap out of Naruto. She sounds like she's coming from hell, for a vengeance, the passive-aggressive way she's talking.

" _I'll be on my way to Japan right now. If I'm right it's night over there so you'll be getting this message in the morning, so I should be there by nine AM. I'll be staying at the Yukuna Hotel, and you better be sure as hell meeting me there. Otherwise, I'm coming to the mansion."_

The message ends abruptly, and a dial tone goes on with Naruto sitting, petrified.

" _NEXT MESSAGE PLAYING: 'Good Day! This is Taikei Health-Insurea-"_ Naruto bangs his hand over the buttons of the answering machine. No more messages. Naruto's brain is on fire trying to process what has happened, and what _will_ happen. Naruto checks the time on Sasuke's grandfather clock. 7am. Theoretically he has time.

 _Time to what?_

"AaaaAAAGGHH!" Naruto screams into his hands, completely frustrated. "Why ME?!" Hurriedly, Naruto replays Sakura's message and does his best to write everything down that she says. As soon as he does, he deletes the voicemail from the machine. "I gotta find the kids."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Meanwhile, Boruto and I sit by ourselves at the kitchen table. It's a weekday, which should normally be a pretty loud breakfast. However from what the maids told us, Kanna and Sasuke are out wedding planning for most of the day. Hinata apparently accompanied them, probably to help Sasuke - leaving us kids to breakfast by ourselves.

Which isn't terrible. We can cook on our own.

But it's still a little lonely, particularly today. "I don't like her," Boruto frowns, staring at his cereal, rather depressed.

"Me neither," I agree, realizing how soggy my cereal is getting. We've been sitting in silence for a while. Not awkward silence just... processing silence. It's been a pretty gloomy morning, getting breakfast ready alone together without the chaos of the adults around. "I'm guessing you heard everything last night."

"Me and the guys," Boruto lets on, sounding guilty, as if they weren't supposed to be listening in. "They told me to tell you sorry."

I chuckle. Sorry for what? Either way, I guess it's their way of being polite. "Thanks I guess." I'll admit, Sasuke's and my talk last night has been all I could think about. I look up at the tall ceiling-height windows. The kitchen lights aren't all on. We were too lazy to turn them up. This dim lighting suits the atmosphere better for now. "I guess I'll be leaving before the end of summer vacation after all."

"You're not giving up are you?"

"You have to admit, we're a little stuck right now," I explain, giving up on my soggy cereal. "I wasn't expecting Sasuke to get engaged. What the hell am I supposed to do about that?"

"Tell him your secret?"

I shake my head. "I don't think him knowing would give him the power to do anything. It'd just add more stuff to his plate."

"Are you even going to tell him?" Boruto asks. "At all..?"

I think about it. I've been stalling it for a while, but I'm running out of time. "I'll tell him after the ball," I decide then and there.

"After they announce the engagement?" Boruto frowns.

"If I tell him beforehand he might try to do something stupid that could get him in trouble with the higher ups," I say. "Finding out he has a kid with the woman who was the love of his life, who isn't _really_ dead is bound to set him off some way. And with all the pressure from the Konoha District Enterprise guys and the press just _on_ him - I don't think telling him is a good idea right now with the engagement prep going on."

"You're not giving up are you?" Boruto asks after a moment of silence.

"I'm not giving up okay? I'm just, being really careful."

Boruto rolls his eyes. "Where's Itachi's rationale when you need him?" The guy was still sound asleep upstairs when Boruto and I went to check if he wanted breakfast.

"Boruto! Sarada!" Naruto's voice echoes outside the kitchen. Our heads pop up. He sounds manic. Before too long the man runs into the kitchen, his socks sliding along the tiles as he stops at the table, like he just saw a monster.

And he's, in sweats and a tank top. "Naruto this is the most commoner-casual I've ever seen you wear," I comment.

"Not the point," Naruto pants. "We're in trouble."

"What why?"

"Your _MOM_ called," Naruto says accusatory to me. This thumping in my heart starts. The majorly uncomfortable kind. "She left a message on Sasuke's answering machine. I deleted it but, she's on her way here."

"Wait she's _here_?" I repeat.

"No she's flying in from wherever but she said she's coming! She'll be at this hotel in the afternoon." Naruto sets down a notepad with a ton of notes, where the words 'Yukana Hotel' circled. "She must've flown out last night."

"Oh my god I'm so dead," I sink into my chair. My earlier depression about Sasuke has given way to my intensified fear of my mother's wrath. And by the look on Naruto's face, he must've had a taste of it from her voicemail.

"Wait," Boruto interrupts. "'The Yakuna Hotel', isn't that the one that Kanna woman is staying at with her brat son?"

There's a long winded silence between us after Boruto's note. Naruto holds his head in his hands as his knees sink to the ground. Only his elbows on the table support him right up. "Why does this keep getting worse and worse?"

"Mom..." She's, so close. I have mixed feelings being told she's found me out. As excited as I am because I miss my mother, I'm twice as terrified. I was hoping by the time she found out about anything I would've been back home by now. What will she say to me about all of this? How will she react to seeing Sasuke? To his engagement? She probably still remembers him as the guy who wanted nothing to do with her pregnancy, and Sasuke for God's sakes thinks she's _dead_. "There's no way we could've prepared for this."

"Then we'll just go in with a new plan. Right now," Boruto encourages.

"The brat's right," Itachi smiles, casually leaning against the kitchen entrance. We all look back at him. How long has he been standing there? "That seems to be how you lot operate on a normal basis."

"And just how much do you know about this?" Naruto glares irritably as Itachi comes up to the table.

"Enough. I was listening in," Itachi answers shamelessly. He looks back to Boruto and me. "Unfortunately Sarada, you're house-grounded today. Sasuke told me earlier today that your stylist for the ball will be coming before noon to meet you."

"What?" I ask, not necessarily finding that much of a priority. "But I wanna do damage control with my mom. There's no telling what'll happen when she lands here. Or if she meets Sasuke! Or if Sasuke meets her-" I stop myself, just imagining the scenario again. I feel so sick.

"Then my dad and me will take care of your mom," Boruto steps in. "I'll call the guys. It'll be alright." He grins. "Leave it to us."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Disbanding after our short cut breakfast, everyone went to go get ready for the day. The rushed five minute showers, dressing up - Boruto calling to wake up Inojin and Mitsuki, while I called to wake up Shikadai. I was prancing around my room searching for my socks and shoes while talking over the phone, screaming at the guys that this was an emergency. I could hear Boruto down the hall having the same frantic conversation with Shikadai probably. I'll have to apologize to those three for always having to put up with me and my drama. Their summer's been totally hijacked by me and my 'Sasuke's-secret-daughter' business.

Meanwhile downstairs in the work office, Naruto and Itachi are busy going over the plan so we'd all be on the same page. Naruto's sitting in Sasuke's desk chair, while Itachi stands opposite the table with crossed arms.

"So Sasuke knows that he's Sarada's dad, and thinks that the kids doesn't know he knows. But the kids know the whole ordeal too and doesn't think Sasuke's aware of any of this, " Naruto reiterates. "Then there's Sakura who had no idea her kid was half way across the fucking planet and thinks Sasuke's this asshole who left her because she was pregnant?"

"So? It's all the same thing."

"Technically but I didn't want to be the one to put it all out there," Naruto complains, sinking his head in his hands again. He runs his fingers through what's left of his hair, if he's lucky to keep most of it after this whole ordeal.

"You just need to stay calm about it."

"Easy for you to say. You're just watching Sarada. I have to make sure the kids don't find out Sasuke knows their secret, _and_ make sure Sakura doesn't find Sasuke."

"Why _not_ let the kids know Sasuke knows?" Itachi asks with a face.

Naruto rolls his eyes. "Because your dumbass of a brother made me promise not to tell Sarada he knows so she can tell him when he's ready - then your troublesome niece and my idiot son made me promise not to tell Sasuke _anything_." Itachi looks judgmental. "Okay okay, I got it. I'll take Boruto and the other kids to the hotel and try to find Sakura before the kids do or before Sasuke and his fiance get back, give Sakura the whole run down - then after we're all mentally prepared I take her back here to the mansion to see Sarada and we are _all_ caught up together."

"And Sasuke?"

"The kids wanna be the one to tell him - I'll let them handle that one," Naruto says with his hands up.

Meanwhile upstairs, I'm scrambling to find my socks, wherever I left my last clean pair. I just got off the phone with Inojin who's getting out of bed now and getting ready (hopefully). I'm all dressed as well out of my pajamas. I have a salmon-pink shirt with a blue jean jacket over, a dark grey skirt with tights as well. I look under my bed for the socks and find my luggage instead. _I should probably give Boruto a picture of my mom before we split up_. An abrupt knock comes from my door and I hit my head on the under of my bed before immediately sitting up.

Boruto opens the door, all dressed up to leave and ready. "The guys are good and should be ready to be picked up soon."

"Shikadai, too," I report, standing up and walking over. I feel tense, and nervous, and nauseous. Uncertain. I wanna cry unreasonably so.

"Hey you good?" Boruto frowns, reading my face.

"Not really," I fake smile, trying to get it out of my system now. "I didn't really wake up this morning expecting all this to happen, and so fast. Like, I knew it'd happen eventually but I thought I had more time, that's all."

"Same here," Boruto tries to smile as well. I can feel him still staring at me with this sympathetic look. "Hey, you have the easy job remember? You just wait here with Itachi and play dress up or whatever you have to do today. You can count on me, okay?" Boruto grins, pointing his thumb cheesily at himself. "What reliable friend would I be if I couldn't do this job right?"

That was undeniably the corniest thing Boruto's ever said out loud, which totally isn't his style. But I know he's just trying to cheer me up. Without thinking about it I try a smile and come forward to hug him, both my arms around his neck. I feel his body tense from the surprise of it all, but he hesitantly hugs me back in the end.

"Thank you," I say, leaning my chin on his shoulder.

"...Why do you sound like you're saying goodbye?" Boruto asks in a low voice, his chiperness from a few seconds ago completely gone.

I feel his shirt under my fingers and palm, relishing the feel of hugging him. "I just wonder if this is the last time I'm going to be able to see you," I reply honestly. "The next time you and me and the guys all regroup, Sasuke could know everything or - what if my mom finds me here and just takes me back home? And I don't get to say goodbye." I find myself hugging him a little tighter, conscious to make sure I'm not squeezing him too tight.

He does so instead, holding me firm and strong. "I'm not saying goodbye," Boruto states. "We have the ball coming up and all these things us and the guys never got to do over summer vacation yet. You can still show the others fun commoner things to do before school starts. You haven't even been on a real vacation-vacation yet with me and my family." I can hear his voice breaking on and off a little in-between, trying to keep himself together by saying all these plans.

At that point I can't hold it anymore, and my glasses fogging up does it in for me. My eyes begin to water and just before they can come out, I nuzzle my eyes into his shoulder to keep them from running down my face. "I um," I breathe in one more time, blinking the rest of the moisture out of my eyes. I start to pull myself away from Boruto. "I have a picture, of my mom. Y-You should have it before you leave-"

Somehow in the process of me pushing Boruto out of our hug, the button on the end of my jean jacket snags on a loose thread on his hoodie and the force of me leaving so suddenly ends up pulling him and me down to the ground in a clumsy fashion. I brace myself for a thud and the possible weight of another body.

My back collides with the carpet flooring and I want to believe that softened the blow, but it still hurts. There's a heavy and warm weight over me as the feeling returns to my body, and I smell Boruto's hair under my nose. He's landed right on top of me, and my jacket's cuff-button is still snagged on his hoodie collar, attached to each other.

Struggling a little, he lifts his head up a bit as I loosen my wrist from his sweater, and eventually my hand falls loose and back to the floor beside my head. Leave it to me to have one more clumsy moment before everything happens.

Boruto readjusts himself so he's at least not laying totally on me, and is supporting himself on his elbows. "I, am _sooo_ sorry," he apologizes with this terror in his eyes.

"No no, I pulled us down it's my bad," I apologize too, feeling a back ache behind my head. It's the only thing preventing me from getting up or pushing Boruto off. "You okay?"

"Yeah, you kinda softened the blow," he chuckles, pretty close to my face still.

I roll my eyes, just realizing how crooked my glasses are over my face. I stiffle a laugh, and leaning to one side Boruto readjusts my glasses for me, so they don't give me more of a headache. "Thanks," I say, seeing a little more clearly now that my glasses are aligned with my eyes. My cheeks feel warm, realizing he still hasn't gotten off me yet.

"No problem," Boruto replies, blinking a couple times. We sort of just stare at each other I think. I can't really get up without him leaving first, but he seems set on just staying I think. I want to make some kind of sarcastic remark or shove him off, but my hands don't move and my voice can't find itself. I'm too busy realizing just how blue his eyes look in comparison to Naruto's. They're probably bluer than his father's.

And... calm. And, serious, but, really pretty.

I have to double check myself to make sure I'm just thinking those thoughts and not saying them out loud. Boruto's face seems to come closer, or is it? Our foreheads are almost touching. Before I can think I'm crazy, he inches a little closer to my face and I shut my eyes. I didn't mean to, but I just did out of instinct, or fear. Is he going to kiss me?

My heart is beating so hard I'm worried Boruto can feel it. I can feel the heat of his breath over the lower part of my face, and his lips are close. I bite my lip a little as I feel him on the hairs of my face, and his lips brush the side of mine. The side. He kisses me just missing my lips - I think on purpose - not touching lips but so close enough that it stills my heart.

It still doesn't change the fact that Boruto just kissed me.

Not as slowly he pulls away, and hesitantly I open my eyes to meet his just as surprised and afraid as mine. _Oh my god_.

" _Boruto_!" Naruto's voice calls from downstairs. " _Boruto are you ready yet_?!"

Boruto clears his throat before looking away. "I-I'm coming down!" Boruto ends up pushing himself up and off me so I can sit up. He avoids my gaze, scratching his head as I straighten out my clothes.

"Wait, let me give you my mom's picture before you go," I remind myself, scrambling to my bed. Half in urgency to get the photo and half to get away from Boruto for just a minute so I can recompose myself. I can still feel his lips on the side of my mouth. I pull the giant luggage out and find the tiny photo book I hid away inside it. I flip to a decent picture of my mom and pull it out. Tossing the tiny book back in my bag and I push it back under my bed.

"Here," I say, handing my precious photo to him. The nervousness of today's to-be events I forgot moments ago has returned to the pit of my stomach. Boruto?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you really think today is going to turn out okay?" I ask, frowning a little. "That we'll both go to sleep under this roof again tonight, and that I won't be back on some plane flying to the U.S?"

"I really do," Boruto affirms. "We'll find her, and tomorrow we'll have breakfast again like we always do." Boruto takes the photo and puts it into his pocket. I have trouble looking him in the eye, but I will myself to. And eventually he does too. I'm surprise to find he has a blush, bright and pink on his cheeks. "And, um, if things work out today, and you're still here," Boruto begins, catching my attention, "We should talk. There's uh, something I want to tell you."

I'm assuming it's about what happened on the floor, when he kissed me. I purse my lips and nod shyly. "Yeah."

"BORUTO LET'S GO!"

"I'M COMING!" Boruto yells back one more time, still looking at me. "Euh, good luck to you too," he bids before turning to the door.

"Wait." I step forward and catch his wrist in my hand, pulling him to a stop. He begins to turn back around to see what's up, but before he can totally face me I inch forward a bit and kiss him on the cheek.

All movement on his part stops completely, and after a few seconds he looks at me in total shock. I mirror the look right back at him, and almost instantly I relinquish his wrist. I totally didn't plan that.

"What's taking so long?!" Naruto suddenly appears at my door behind Boruto and grabs his son by the hood of his sweater, dragging him along. "We have to get going _NOW_!" Naruto yells in a panic. Boruto's fighting him on the pulling but both Uzumaki's disappear before I can react.

And now I'm kind of just left standing there alone facing my open door. With the time to relax I touch the side of my lips with my fingers, where Boruto kissed me earlier. _Boruto kissed me_. Somehow thinking that causes a small smile to creep up on me. It's not a bad thing. Definitely not something I was expecting today either.

Oh my god.

I kissed Boruto's cheek. Oh my god why did I do that? "Agh!" I start to freak out, holding my head and crouching a little. "Of all times to have boy problems why now?"

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Naruto's car drives up to Ino's house and beeps his horn, where soon enough Inojin rushes out the front door with his mother waving him off.

Inojin runs fast and gets into the back seat with Boruto on the middle, Shikadai on the other side, and Mitsuki in the front. "So what's this about Sarada's mom flying in?" Inojin asks, half alarmed and half asleep - entirely annoyed from waking up so early.

Naruto steps on the gas as Boruto fills in Inojin, and the others basically, on the run-down from this morning. "You're oddly quiet, Mr. Uzumaki," Mitsuki comments in the passenger seat.

"I'm focused on driving, Mituski."

"But Sasuke doesn't know her mom's here right?" Inojin says. "Isn't that like, bad?"

"As long as Sasuke doesn't realize he's Sarada's dad, it might be better if Sasuke and Sakura meet first right? And then they just talk about Sarada together so nothing gets lost in translation?" Shikadai reasons.

"Freaking out about finding out Sarada's his kid isn't what's gonna get to him, that's for sure," Naruto mutters as he swerves around other cars on the road.

"What was that?" Boruto narrows his eyes, leaning forward.

"Nothing," Naurto responds with a face, realizing he might've slipped up.

"Dad," Brotuo says back accusingly, now all eyes on the driver. "You know something."

"No I don't," Naruto defends.

"You're sweating a little, Mr. Uzumaki," Mitsuki comments.

"Why are you the one sitting in the front instead of Boruto?!" Naruto argues, making a sharp left.

"Dad what're you hiding?"

"What do you know?"

"Is it about Sasuke?"

"You ran a stop sign, Mr. Uzumaki."

Finally, Naruto couldn't take it. These kids were driving him insane. "Sasuke knows that Sarada is his!" Naruto cries out, causing understandable reactions from the boys. Naruto presses on the breaks hard as they come to a stop at a red light. All passengers jerk forward a little, half from shock at the breaks and also from Naruto's statement.

"Sasuke knows?!" Boruto shouts.

"Yeah yeah he knows. I know. We all know," Naruto admits, rubbing his temples with his hands now that his hands are free for a moment. "He knows Sakura's alive and Sarada came to find him. Itachi told him everything back when he came to stay at the mansion."

"That long he knew?" Boruto's eyes widen.

"Hey it wasn't my decision okay?" Naruto defends, looking to the back of the car. "You guys didn't want me to tell him anything and he didn't want me to tell you guys anything either! What was I supposed to do?"

"Tell us anyway!" All the kids argue back in unison, the boys in the back of the car more accusatory than Mitsuki. Nonetheless, Naruto groans and bangs his forehead on the wheel.

"Maybe this isn't a bad thing," Shikadai tries to reason out, reformulating their plan of action as the light turns green. "Now that we're all on the same page, this makes things easier."

"Does it?" Boruto frowns.

"Sasuke wont't be _that_ surprised to see Sakura at least," Shikadai explains, "which will save us the trouble of explaining everything to him eventually."

"Which hopefully won't have to happen in the first place, if we find Sarada's mom first," Naruto says, making one final turn towards the hotel. He has to admit, the kids all knowing too makes it less nerve-wrecking to find Sakura. At least now all of them can be on the look out for her and all have the same information going in: Find her, and if Sasuke's there keep him away from her.

x-x-x-x-x-x

Itachi and I wait at the Uchiha mansion for this 'personal stylist' of mine to come at their appointed time. Sasuke supposdly chose her personally, according to Itachi, so she must be good. Not that that's much concern to me. The last thing I have on my mind is what I'm wearing to the ball. God that's tomorrow. Will I even make it to tomorrow?

Itachi comes out of the kitchen reading a book to find me sitting alone at the base of the ballroom staircase, twiddling my thumbs and tapping my foot. He closes his book and decides to come over. "I can hear your foot tapping five rooms away. I was wondering what that was," he teases.

"Sorry," I say, stopping my foot. It is a pretty quiet mansion without the others. The ballroom is all decorated with flowers and curtain swags, all prepped for tomorrow's celebration and 'engagement announcement' - so all the mansion help has today off. "I guess I'm just nervous."

"No use worrying about things now," Itachi points out. "From my undertanding, Naruto will find your mother, inform her of everything we know about your situation, and then bring her back here to the mansion before Sasuke comes home so Naruto you and I can brief her on everything." He smiles reassuringly at me in a way that reminds me of Sasuke's rare smile. "You won't be alone when you face your mother."

"Thanks, Uncle Itachi," I smile, and I can see him lighten a little by me calling him that. It's good to know I'm not alone. "I can only hope it runs that smoothly."

"Let's focus on the ball," Itachi suggests, standing in front of me now. "Get your mind of what's going on downtown. Besides, if you're prepared, then I think it'd be good for Sakura to come to the ball as well. I'll invite her personally myself."

My face contorts so much in a way I didn't mean for it to. That's the last thing I'd imagine. "Is that even allowed? Can you do that?"

Itachi merely shrugs and scoffs, "I do what I want." I can't help but laugh at him. "Think about it; Sakura swoops in, announces her love for her long lost lover, she and Sasuke reunites, engagement cancelled, happily ever after."

"You make it sound so easy," I laugh.

"What do _you_ think will happen?"

My smile slants as I think honestly. " _I_ imagine the worst case scenario. Maybe my mom won't care for the circumstances and just take me home - I never see Sasuke or the others ever again. I get grounded for life." That hypothetical sounds more realistic and depressing the longer I go on. "I'm so dead."

Itachi's hand finds its way to the top of my head. It's a comforting gesture I've learned to associate with Sasuke. "I guarantee it won't be that bad," he promises all aloof. In-between our moment, the mansion's doorbell echoes along. It's the stylist. They're here. "Alright, get your game-face on kid," Itachi bids as he goes to answer the door for me. I stand up and straighten out my skirt, mentally preparing myself to act the part of a blue-blood adoptee.

Itachi personally opens the door and standing there in the light of day is a tall, lean blonde woman. She has a small mark on her forehead, and the most intense hazel eyes I can see even from all the way here. She looks strong, and she wears these fashionable cargo pants with high heel boots and a tank top, a leather jacket hanging over the back of her shoulder. She has a couple tattoos as well, slightly purple in the light - and I at first don't know how to react. Her badass appearance reminds me of my mother almost. But, she's the stylist? The gruff outter wear contrasts hard to all the clean-cut styles I've seen with others associated with the industry.

"You must be Lady-Tsunade," Itachi greets, offering his hand.

"You flatter me with the title," Tsunade smirks, slapping her hand into a firm and quite loud hand shake. Definitely gruff. I'm, almost afraid of her.

She finally locks eyes with me and I tense a little and make a note to stand straighter. Fancy-clothes or not Boruto's remarks about my earlier bad posture rings aloud again and I want nothing but to impress the scary yet respectable woman at the door. "H-Hi."

"You must be Sarada," she says with a softer stare and excited smile. Her intimidating nature is balanced out by her smooth voice and face. Definitely like my mom. "Sasuke says I'll be your personal stylsit for tomorrow."

"Y-Yes mam."

She laughs. Was it because I called her 'mam'? I'm not sure how I should act in front of her. But she looks amused nonetheless. "You're definitly different from other clients I've had." Please don't let that be a bad thing. "You and I are going to get along well."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Naruto stops the car in front of the hotel entrance, and they all exit the car as Naruto leaves his keys with a man for valet parking. It's one of the most expensive hotels in the city, but being the right-hand man of Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto's pretty well known by the staff already. Naruto's skill of being able to relate to the common people - especially workers and staff, gave him the easy advantage of being able to just walk right in and do whatever business he needed to do.

"Mr. Uzumaki," one of the staff pushing luggage carts greets.

"Hey how's it goin," Naruto nods with a salute. Two other cleaning ladies see the blonde and bow, greeting him too. "Hi, keep up the good work ladies."

"Your dad's popular," Inojin whispers to Boruto, who's a little embarrassed.

They walk up to the receptionist counter - which is a little island in the middle of the regal lobby. "You guys all have your phones right?" Naruto asks the kids. All four nod, and he turns to the attentive receptionist, who is happy to greet Naruto. He asks if they have a guest by the name of 'Sakura Haruno', her room number, and if she's arrived yet. Normally information like that would remain confidential, but Naruto manages to persuade the man that she's a personal guest of Sasuke Uchiha, and Naruto is there to escort her.

Boruto doesn't say anything, but is pretty impressed his dad can suave his way into a lie like that so easily.

"Alright, thanks man," Naruto nods as he takes a small note with the written information on it. The man bows and goes to attend to another guest, leaving Naruto with the boys. "Alright her room's on the fifth floor, 508. I suggest we split up and scout out the place and try to find her."

"Is she here already?" Boruto asks curiously.

"Unfortunately they don't have that on record. They had a staff member go to the airport to personally escort her to the hotel with her key and everything, so she could be here already or on her way," Naruto explains. Great. He shows off a spare key card though, and tosses it to Inojin. "Here's the spare to her room though. Apparently she ordered for a middle class room but the hotel upgraded her when they found out who she was. She has the deluxe suite upstairs."

"Damn," Shikadai blinks. "Is she that big in her field?"

"Apparently," Naruto shrugs, slightly more intimidated by this woman than he already was now. "Boruto take Shikadai and look around. Inojin you go with Mitsuki and check out her room. Be careful and try not to look too suspicious if she's there."

"What about you?" Boruto asks his dad, searching his pocket for the photo I gave him earlier in the day.

"I'll look around on my own, ask around if anyone's seen her."

"Here's what she looks like," Boruto reminds everyone, showing everyone the photo. They all study her face carefully. "Keep in touch, and be careful. This is for Sarada okay?" Everyone nods and splits up.

Inojin and Mitsuki hurry to the top floor of the hotel. They go up knowing she has the best suite, but upon reaching her door only then do they realize how special the treatment this woman is getting. Her room has double doors, with gold leaf designs all around the borders. "What a fancy room," Inojin says, impressed at the doors alone.

"Do you think she's inside?" Mitsuki asks cautiously.

Inojin leans his ear against the hard door, hearing nothing inside. Shaking his head, Mitsuki nods and goes to swipe the key card down the lock. A green light lights up and a small click is heard between the door handles. Inojin quietly pulls one open and peers in before sliding in quickly.

If the doors were any indication of the luxury of the room, the inside did twice the job. Mitsuki and Inojin couldn't help but stare at it all at first just to take in the space.

For a one-person suite, even a deluxe suite, it looked suited for royalty. The bedding, the wall paper, the high end furniture - even the pleasant smell of the room just screamed luxury and comfort. If this hotel wanted to impress Sakura Haruno, this room was definitely the way. "Do you see any signs of her stay?" Mitsuki asks, glancing around.

Inojin doesn't see any shoes, or marks on the sheets. The two start to wander and look around. The bathroom is empty, and there's no shoes. The hotel stationary is still placed neatly on the dresser, and all the lights are still off - save for the chandelier and all the natural light illuminating the room. "I don't think she's checked in yet," Inojin surmises, a little suspicious still.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Shikadai and Boruto meanwhile have a lot of ground to cover, for just a group of them and Naruto who end to the other side of the hotel. Boruto and Shikadai have checked the dining areas, the gym, the pools, the outdoor gardens, the lounge areas, the spas. There was no sign of the pink-haired woman.

Eventually Shikadai gets a ping from his phone. A group text to him, Boruto, and Naruto from Inojin and Mitsuki. "Her room's clear," Shikadai reads as Boruto looks around another lobby. "She's not checked in yet."

"Well that explains why we can't see her," Boruto sighs, getting a little frustrated with this game. At least knowing she wasn't checked in yet soothed his nerves. He looks at his phone, seeing the same message too. He contemplated updating his friend back at the mansion, but decided against it. They were all wrecked with nerves enough as it is.

"How's Sarada doing?" Shikadai says suddenly, spooking Boruto. Boruto's jump makes Shikadai arch a brow.

"She's fine," Boruto answers quickly, wondering how off he must look. "Or as fine as she can be. We were both pretty shook up this morning when we said bye."

"She sounded like that on the phone when she woke me up," Shikadai mentioned. Boruto didn't know that. "It took a better part of the conversation for me to calm her down haha."

Boruto chuckles a bit too as they continue to walk around the hotel. They reach a railing and take a short break there after their long run around the building. "You thinking about something?" Shikadai reads.

There was no getting past the genius of the group. "I, kind of kissed Sarada before I left the mansion."

Shikadai's eyes break, and Boruto keeps his eyes down over the railing, overlooking the lobby three floors down. "Wait what? Today?"

"Yeah," Boruto replies embarrassed, feeling his cheeks tint again.

"So... w-what happened?" Shikadai managed out, still pretty shocked.

"It was just an in-the-moment kind of thing. I didn't mean to do it I just _did_ it," Boruto tries to explain, or remember. It sends butterflies through him, which he tries to shoe away. He has to remember they're on an important mission and now isn't the right time to have girls stuck on his mind. "But, it was... nice."

"Huh," Shikadai nods, not too sure what he can say to his friend. It definitely wasn't a bad thing. But between mingling thoughts of his best friend's romantically-challenged situation, Shikadai spots something over the railing and his hand slaps onto Boruto's arm. "Dude."

Boruto's alert again and without having to point, Boruto sees exactly what Shikadai is looking at. There's a woman talking to someone at the reception counter, with a fancy yet cool-casual jumpsuit, with the noticeable pink hair. Boruto pulls out the photo with a shaky and hurried hand and looks at it and the woman down below back and forth. "Shit she's here."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

I stand up on a little stand surrounded by three mirrors, as Tsunade finishes my measurements. We were given a green well-lit parlor room to use by Itachi - who left the two of us while he did, well, whatever it was he went to do. Itachi kept himself busy most of the time, in the worst of times. Part of me wished he'd stay with me while Tsunade worked, but after a little while I found myself pretty comfortable with the once intimidating designer.

"You're all set kid," Tsunade nods, pulling away her measuring tape. I put my arms back down to my sides as she writes a couple notes on a small clipboard.

"I thought you had measurements of mine already sent from Sasuke," I say, taking a seat on the modeling stand.

"I received them. Just wanted to double check. You never know," she winks. "So it's my understanding that your last designer was Sai."

"Yeah. He's a friend's dad," I nod. "He designed for the Uchihas and the Uzumakis for the Gala a little while ago."

"Sai's a great designer. Good family man," Tsunade praises approvingly. I love how she carries herself not all high-and-mighty, with her nose up in the air like most blue-bloods. She reminds me of home actually back in New York. "I saw your dress at the Gala, you know."

"You were at the Gala?"

"Yeah for a bit," she laughs. "I was a little busy at the bar so I didn't get the opportunity to meet you properly. But I heard around the party about you and your friends' dealings down at the harbor. You were pretty brave."

"I was just a pretty face playing damsel-in-distress," I reword, embarrassed that it got out I was _kidnapped_. What a reputation to have amongst the grownups of Sasuke's world.

"You don't seem like a damsel-in-distress kind of girl," Tsunade guesses. "You have a pretty athletic build for a kid your age. Do you work out?"

"Not particularly," I respond, a little flattered to be called fit by such a strong looking woman. "But I like to stay on my feet."

"Any sports? Athletic hobbies?"

"Competitively no," I say sheepishly. "I like P.E class, and I play soccer in the park with my friends and stuff back home. Running and catching late buses and subway trains is about as atheltic as I can brag."

"You're from the U.S right?" Tsunade asks, still writing some notes in her clipboard. "What part?"

"New York," I reply with a modest smile. "Queens."

"Brooklyn," Tsunade grins, noding her head to refer to herself.

My eyes light up as I sit up a little straighter. "Really?"

"Born and raised," she brags, holding her hand out a little. "I knew there was something different about you that I liked. You're a lot less prissy and more loose than most of the girls I've designed for."

"I hope that's a good thing."

"It is in my book," she laughs, seemingly done with her notes. She pulls up one of the gold and linen chairs and turns it around, sitting backwards in it in this improper way as she faces me with this motherly curiosity. "So, back to business. Let's not talk fashion - let's talk about you."

Tsunade and I have this very organic conversation of getting to know each other - things we can relate to, whether it comes to things from back home, or dealings with blue-bloods, our fascination with the derogatory 'commoner' term, and just having very similar tastes in humor. We find ourselves laughing more than talking about the dress she has to design - which I almost completely forget about most of the talk.

"You've grown pretty fond of Sasuke then I assume," Tsunade laughs, after I tell her the story of when I cornered Sasuke into helping me bake Boruto's birthday cake - which ended horribly by the way. She's been doodling in this giant notepad on and off throughout our talk.

"I have," I laugh, loosening my posture by now. "I'm going to miss him when I have to go back home."

"Is that soon?"

I shrug, feeling a little down thinking about it. "He's getting married soon. He says because the honeymoon is also for business he won't be back for a while, so he'll be sending me home after the wedding is over."

"You're not excited about heading back home?" she asks, ripping a piece of paper out and placing it carelessly on the desk next to her, standing a new sketch.

"I am," I lie. Only then do I realize how much I've grown to like it here in Japan. Would I really prefer to stay here over my own home? "I just never really had a dad-figure growing up, so, I'm just really going to miss Sasuke. That's all."

She glances up, a little focused on her sketch. Her arm moves so strong and fast, I can't help but wonder what she's been drawing all this time with such bold strokes. "Does he know that? No offence, and Sasuke's a great business man, probably the best, but he doesn't seem like the best at communicating his feelings and vice versa."

"You'd think so," I laugh, feeling like I'm teasing my dad. "He's gotten better at it. I'm not too sure how good we are at goodbyes though. Knowing him he'll just avoid it all together though." I know I might. I don't think I can keep it together if Sasuke ends up being the last face I see before leaving Japan. Not so much because I'll miss him, but because I'll be leaving him behind with everything he'll be missing out on without his family.

"Well," Tsunade starts, not the type to pry it seems, "What do _you_ want?"

What _do_ I want? I think about it silently first. I've been asked that before, but it's different circumstances now. "I think... I just want Sasuke to be happy," I realize, finally. Whether that's with or without me. Would he be happier never knowing he had a daughter, going on as the head of Uchiha Enterprises as he always has? Or would he be happier knowing my mom was alive, and that I exist, only for us to live apart from him while he marries into this new life? I sigh. "I just don't want him to go back to the way he used to be when I first met him."

"How parent-like, for the child of the relationship to say," Tsunade comments, making smaller, daintier strokes with her pencil now. "I like you Sarada."

"I like you too," I smile, feeling like I made another friend in the world of the rich. A sincere friend.

"And from woman to woman, some advice," she begins, eyeing me now, "Boys, young or old, are very simple creatures. Not too intuitive. They won't know how a girl is feeling unless you _tell_ them. So," she pauses, "Talk things out, while you can. There'll come a moment - not a day, a _moment_ \- were you won't be able to anymore. And you never know when that'll come. So have those hard talks," Tsunade advises, a small nostalgic smile on her face. "Don't wait for these things."

It sounds like very simple advice, but coming from her it sounds like long-old wisdom. I think about Sasuke. I think about Boruto, too, automatically.

"Alright," she concludes, looking at her drawing before ripping it out too. Only now do I realize how she has dozens of papers scattered all over the table. She nudges her head towards me to come to her. I jump to my feet and walk over, taking notice of all the wonderful dress designs she has on all these papers. Little notes. Accessories. Color swatches in color pencil. Definitly a different process from Sai. Not better or worse - just, different. But inspirationally different. "What do you think?"

"What do I think?" I repeat, excitement hitching in my voice. "These looks amazing. I don't know what to look at first. Can I pick them up?"

"Of course."

As if they were treasures form a museum, I pick up the newsprint sketches and look at the artistic drawings on them. It reminds me entirely of my mom's work process. The rough designs, hard on dark lines. Bold with attitude yet with the grace of a princess for whoever will wear them. I forgot they're for me.

Tsunade asks what catches my eye from all of these, and I work with her over the hour on the details I personally like - and what she thinks will look good on me and show off my character. Similar to Sai, Tsunade wants to dress me showing off my personality. It's a fun process, designing the dress with Tsunade. I can't remember the last time I 'helped' my mom design a dress. Probably when I was a child, bothering my mom more often for time in her home-studio. We talk materials, make up, accessories and hair. It's a painless process, and I feel confident, if not excited for once, about what I'll be wearing to the ball.

"You're a beautiful and bright young woman, Sarada," Tsunade notes, making a few notes on me as she lays some cloths over y clothes on the modeling stand. "You'll be just fine tomorrow."

"Will you be there?"

"Of course," Tsunade responds. "I'll be dressing you tomorrow too so no one can mess up my dress."

"Can you really make something like this overnight?"

"I've already been working on it for a while. Tonight I'll be adding my finishing touches, now that I've consulted over things with you," Tsunade comments. Wow. "You're gonna kick ass, kid."

I love the brash way she talks. In the mirror's reflection I see Itachi come to the open door and knock twice. "How're we doing?"

"My work is done," Tsunade announces. "Just taking a few last notes."

"Sasuke's home," Itachi says back, and my body tenses. Oh my god. It's only two. How is he home already? I thought he was supposed to be out with Kanna all day.

Right on cue, Sasuke arrives beside Itachi, and sees me on the stand with Tsunade kneeling beside me. "I see you've made it," he says to Tsunade.

"Sasuke, I didn't think I'd be seeing you today," Tsunade smiles at the surprise. She stands, returning her pins and ruler to her side. "My secretary said you'd be out of the house all day."

"Change of plans," Sasuke nods, coming in and shaking Tsunade's hand. "Give my regards to Shizune. How is she?"

"Doing well, as always. Well, as much as she can be. I left her back at my office with all my unfinished paperwork from last night," Tsunade laughs shamelessly. "Anyways, I've finished designing and I'll have the dress delivered before noon tomorrow."

"Thank you," Sasuke thanks before looking at me. "Have fun?"

"Tons," I grin, hiding my nervousness well. Whaaat is he doing here? "I'll see you tomorrow Tsunade!"

"See you tomorrow kid," Tsunade grins, gathering her stuff into her bag. "Get some good sleep tonight."

I wave her goodbye as Itachi escorts her out of the parlor. Itachi gives me a watching look before leaving me alone with Sasuke. "Sorry for not saying goodbye this morning," Sasuke apologizes with a small laugh. "Kanna dragged me out first thing in the morning."

"I heard," I comment. "So uh, what're you doing here? You guys aren't done shopping already are you?"

"I felt bad leaving you at the house alone. I can see Naruto and Boruto are out too. Where'd they go?"

"Uh," I blink, "They wanted to do some father-son bonding stuff."

"Now? And left you here?"

Crap. They wouldn't do that. "I wanted to spend some quality time with Itachi," I shrug. It's the truth. "Your brother's fun."

Sasuke rolls his eyes. That seems to be enough to deter his suspicions. "Sure he is."

"Where's Kanna? She's not with you?"

"I told her to go on ahead back to her hotel. I had a feeling you'd be left alone the whole day so I thought you should come with us. We're going to have a late lunch with her parents back at the Yakuna Hotel."

"Do I have to?" I ask with an anxious smile.

"You can't leave me alone with them," he teases, making me laugh. "Come on. I doubt you'll be getting a good dinner tonight at the house anyway with all the staff off today."

"Sure then," I agree, stepping off the modeling stand. "I'll just go get my jacket." Once my face is out of sight from Sasuke, it sinks and I bite my lip. The hairs on my arms are standing, and I consciously try to walk a little slower to stall for time. _Crap._

Itachi stands at the other end of the door, where I didn't see him. After he'd escorted Tsunade out, Itachi returned to the room and listened in on our conversation. He begins to walk away from the parlor and down the hall in a rush. Once he's back in the ballroom, he makes a turn for the kitchen for some privacy as he takes out his phone and begins to text the guys: ' _Sasuke came back early. He's picking up Sarada and taking her to the hotel to have dinner with Kanna's family.'_ Itachi wasn't sure of what was going on at Naruto's end, but this entire clash of people wasn't going to be a good situation.

He hears voices in the ballroom as Sasuke and I leave through the front door. The driver out front opens our doors. Itachi looks out the window. Signs of late afternoon show in the sky, and he can only hope the others read his message.

"Itachi?" Hinata's voice rings from the kitchen entrance. She must've returned with Sasuke while Kanna went to the hotel on her own. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing that I know off," Itachi plays off cooly.

Yet there's no fooling Hinata, undoubtedly the smartest adult in the entire household. "Are you sure? I never see you look so distraught."

Itachi chuckles to himself. He either must be careless or just that nervous if it shows physically on his face. He's the master of the poker-face. Then again, it is Hinata Hyuuga. "Get dressed," Itachi says instead, referring to her business attire. She had worn heels and a blazer and pencil skirt when assisting Kanna and Sasuke with shopping earlier.

Hinata looks down at her outfit. "Into what?"

"Something more comfortable. Preferably something you can run in," Itachi says vaguely, looking out the window one more time thoughtfully. He watches our driver take Sasuke and me out until our limo disappears. "We're going somewhere and I'd rather we hurry."

* * *

 **Mwaha. Ahahaha. The whole thing is unfolding. Sorry if all the scene changes are confusing by the way - it was the only way I could string everything together as coherently as I could haha.**

 **PREVIEW:**

 ** _In the corner of my eye, I can see my mother talking to hotel worker. I needed to distract Sasuke. Fast. "H-Hey Sasuke, I need to use the bathroom. Do you know where it is?"_**

 ** _"Yeah it's this way. Come on," he says, turning another way. I follow Sasuke, but look back to catch one more glimpse of my mother, and- Boruto?_**

 ** _"Help! Help Miss!" Boruto screams, suddenly appearing at my mother's side once the staff member walks away. He's tugging hard on her arm with a desperate look on his face. "Please you have to help me! My friend, he's stuck in the elevator! He can't breathe and I have his inhaler!" 'Oh my god Boruto what are you doing.'_**

 ** _x-x-x-x_**

 ** _A buzz from Naruto's phone comes up. It's a text from Itachi: "Sasuke came back early. He's picking up Sarada and taking her to the hotel to have dinner with Kanna's family."_**

 ** _Naruto looks up, as if pleading for mercy or an early death. "Kill me."_**

 ** _x-x-x-x_**

 ** _Sakura's breath holds at the mention of her daughter. "You know where my daughter is?"_**

 ** _"She's been living with Sasuke and my family," Boruto steps up, from beside Sakura. He walks up to her, a little braver. Still nervous, but his head was tall and his shoulders back. "She's doing okay, we promise."_**

 ** _x-x-x-x_**

 ** _"There's, one more thing you should know," Naruto frowns, feeling he should mention this before he loses face. "Sasuke's... engaged." This brings Sakura out of her headache, and she looks at Naruto to see if there's any hint of a lie in his eyes._**


	24. Dramatic Collisions Pt2

**Chapter 24: Dramatic Collisions Pt2**

 _ **The big turning point. It's the beginning of August, Sarada's last month of summer. Knowing this, life continues as normal throughout the Uchiha Mansion - but Sasuke and Naruto receive some unnerving news from the Konoha Enterprise Summit Meeting. Meanwhile, Sarada and the boys start to contemplate on the final stage of their plan for their summer.**_

* * *

The limo ride alone with Sasuke is nerve wrecking, and to keep myself appearingly calm I keep my hands folded on my lap. If I don't twitch and at least not look so tense and still, maybe I won't be that suspicious looking. I definitely feel like a panic. I can't even warn the guys. In the anxiousness of getting ready I left my phone back in my room like an idiot. Hopefully Itachi was being his usual self and eavesdropping, and managed to warn the guys instead that we were all on our way to the hotel.

Is my mom even there? Did they find her? Or not? I'm beginning to regret not asking them during the afternoon of any updates. They would've told me if they'd found her, I said earlier.

"We need to talk," Sasuke begins, in the silence of the drive.

"About what?"

Sasuke looks uneasy, which is unusual for him to say the least. "I.. know you're my daughter."

Oh.

My.

God

"What...?" I stare, losing my voice. Get. Me. Out of here.

Sasuke doesn't look like he's joking, and he's looking solemnly straight into my eyes. He's not lying. He knows. This is one of the few times I'm speechless, and no matter what I want to say, nothing seems to manifest into usable words. My mouth feels too dry. "H-How... How long have you known?" I manage out, feeling like I'm going to cry.

"A little over a week," Sasuke responds. "Itachi told me, about your grandfather and your mom and you. All of it."

I can't even be mad at Itachi. I want to be. But I, oh my god don't faint Sarada. "I-I never meant to lie to you for so long, I-I want you to know that," I begin to say, trying to keep my voice together. "I just... I'm, I'm sorry Sasuke." I shut my eyes as I begin to cry, too conflicted with what I'm supposed to do or say. There's too much running through my mind. I've been reduced to a crybaby as of late, and this definitely nails it.

Sasuke symptomatically comes over to my side of the limo, kneeling before me and pulling me into a hug, holding me the way I always imagined my father would hold me when I cry - which Sasuke has definitely done before. But feeling it now, especially now that he knows, somehow feels twice as better.

"You have nothing to apologize for," Sasuke says, keeping it together way better than I am. I just let myself cry. " _I'm_ sorry. All this time you knew, and I definitely didn't treat you the way a dad should've treated you."

"You didn't know," I defend, between sobs.

"I should have," Sasuke says, beating himself up a little. "It's just, thinking Sakura was dead, there was no way you could've..."

I force myself to pull myself together, rubbing my eyes with my arms and pushing us out of he hug. He knees before my seat, but he keeps his hands intertwined with mine in a comforting hold. He's my dad. He's known. For the past week or two he's known. I can't be angry at that. "Do you hate me?" I ask, sniffling the snot back into my head.

"Of course not," Sasuke replies, somewhat offended, and terrified I would think something like that.

"Did you ever stop loving my mom?" I ask. I know that it was my grandfather that drove my parents apart, telling my mom my dad fell out of love with her. Yes it was all a lie, but I needed to hear it from Sasuke. "You didn't really stop loving her because she was pregnant with me, did you?"

Hearing such a question made Sasuke shake his head in disgrace. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. _Sakura. Pregnant_. "Not a day went by," he begins, squeezing my hands, "that I didn't think about your mother. And you have no idea, how happy I was to hear we had a kid together. And for that kid to be you, I couldn't be more proud." Hearing that much at least brought comfort to my conscience. My crying has reduced to small hiccups and sniffling. "

"Were you mad?" I ask, "When you found out?"

"I was pissed," he almost laughs. "

How is your mom? How's she doing?"

So he doesn't know she's here. "She's doing well," I hiccup with a tiny laugh. "She's this big fashion designer now. She's a great mom, and I was always happy living with her."

"That's great," Sasuke smiles with relief.

I try to think of more to tell him, as if to comfort him too. "She kept a photo of you from your wedding day. Well, not wedding day but that wedding photo shoot. I took it with me when I came here."

"Wedding photo shoot," Sasuke laughs, remembering that day from his youth. "That was such a stupid photo shoot, but your mom had a good time I remember." He brings his hands up to my face, as if embedding my look into the back of his mind. The same way I look back at him, and relish the feel of my cheeks held in his strong hands. "You really do look like her it's scary. I have so many questions."

"I bet," I laugh, holding his hands too over my face. He rubs his thumb over a dry tear, just like a dad. "Sasuke, do you have to marry that other woman? My mom's still out there. You guys can get back together, and we can all be a family like we were always meant to be."

I didn't realize how much courage it took for me to ask that question. It's like confessing your feelings to a boy for the first time, and dreading their answer. The same way I dread Sasuke's. His face falls, but there's a spark of hope, and I can't tell which is stronger. "Sarada..."

"Please Sasuke, you guys belong together."

"It's complicated," Sasuke begins, his hands falling from my face and our hands fall back down to my lap in disappointment. "I _have_ to go through with this engagement."

"Why?"

"It's part of the business," Sasuke gives, having no better answer. And it was a terrible answer. "As far as my higher ups know, I have no heirs. No kids to inherit the Uchiha Company when I step down. That's why they want me to marry." He puts a hand over my ace again, wiping another tear before it can fall. "If they knew I had a daughter you'd be the one being forced into an engagement to secure the company's future - not me." I have no words, and Sasuke lets it sink in for a moment before putting his hand down to my shoulder, firmly. "You understand, don't you?"

What a terrible system. And Sasuke's protecting me from this? Is this my fault? "But you're still in love with her," I read from his eyes.

"Drop it," Sasuke says sternly, yet sympathetically. "We have more important things to worry about than a high school crush. We'll go to this dinner, then after we get back home you and I will have all the time to talk and ask all the questions we want, okay? Then we'll figure out what we're gonna do with you after the wedding."

"You're still sending me back? Even after finding out I'm your kid?"

"You're her's," Sasuke corrects, sadly. "As much as I want to stay a part of your life, in the end she's your mom first. And by the looks of it I might not be cut out for this dad stuff."

"I thought you were," I frown, feeling like I've been rejected. But I understand. Sasuke's in no position to keep housing me, as long as he wants to hide from his higher ups he has a child. _Boruto, please hurry_.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"I'm telling you, WE SAW HER," Boruto tries to argue, driving himself mad.

"Look, we haven't seen her and her room's still empty!" Inojin argues, the entirety of them now on their way to Sakura's suite room to verify. Naruto leads, tired of all four of the boys arguing. But he had to agree, he saw no sign of Sakura Haruno throughout the hotel. Boruto might've just seen someone like her - but Shikadai backing him up sounded likely.

"Did you guys search her room enough?" Shikadai tries to reason as they speed walk down the hotel halls.

"There's no sign of her stay there," Mitsuki replies, more level headed than Inojin and Boruto right now.

"And she concierge said she wasn't checked in formally yet either," Naruto adds, trying to stay calm. It's been hours and they haven't located this blasted woman yet. So either she was a master at hiding, or she just really wasn't there yet. Naruto takes the card key from Mitsuki and swipes it into Sakura's suite, taking a second to take in how elaborate her room was, but he recovers fast.

Everyone takes a second run of the room, looking for any signs of her belongings.

"You idiots!" Boruto shouts, near a closet. Naruto leaves the bathroom and gathers with the boys by a sliding mirror closet, where a tiny clearly commoner luggage rests on it's side, already open and a few belongings sprawled around it. Like socks, heels discarded, empty chip bags and a half empty water bottle. It looked like a lazily put away gym bag than a luxurious luggage of a famous fashion designer.

"Her plane tickets are here," Shikadai reads, bending down squinting his eyes from all the shadows the guys are casting so he can read the ticket information "Yup, this is her's."

"THAT'S ALL SHE BROUGHT?!" Naruto shouts baffled. How deceiving. No wonder Inojin and Mitsuki missed this. Looking more carefully, the poorly packed duffel bag had what looked like one or two pairs of clothing at best, toilet paper, a scrappy notebook, unfolded underwear, a toothbrush mixed in there, and some hair ties. He thought back to what I packed when I first came to the airport, but even I was more prepared than this.

"She's definitely Sarada's mom," Inojin scoffs, judging the junk food scraps left in the bag.

"I told you guys she was here!" Boruto yells at the others. "We've gotta find her!"

On the other side of the great hotel, Kanna walks around in a short classic black dress, holding her tiny leather purse and her jacket, rather impatient and pissed. She checks her watch for the time, not happy that her fiance ditched her. "Why does he have to bring that brat to dinner? And now my parents are late too. It's just not my day," Kanna complains over the phone to a friend. She makes her way to the bar and takes a seat, setting down her belongings in a chair to the right - as the one on her left was occupied by another woman. "I know right?! And she totally hates me, I swear, she's out to ruin our marriage. What an insensitive kid."

Kanna holds the phone to her chest as she calls a bartender over. "One margarita," the man nods and she returns to her call. "I'm just so stressed out about the wedding planning you know? And my fiance gave his staff off for the day so I had to do everything myself. Hello? Hello? Kumiko?"

Annoyed at the loss of signal, Kanna hangs up her phone and puts it on the black marble bar counter, completely frustrated in all her beauty.

The woman beside her, a witness to a fraction of her bad day, looks on sympathetically. "Rough day?"

"Definitely," Kanna groans, trying to keep her temper together. The bartender gives her her drink, which she takes pompously. "Men," she scoffs.

"I feel you," the woman beside her chuckles.

Kanna at first glances judgingly to the side to this woman making lackluster small talk while sipping her drink, and does a double take upon seeing who it is. "Oh my goodness," she begins, putting her drink down. "Are you Sakura Haruno? That famous fashion designer from Manhattan?"

The recognition catches the woman by surprise, that she almost chokes on her own drink. She smiles politely, before noding clumsily. "Guilty."

"Oh my- I can't believe this," Kanna gushes, turning her spinning bar seat towards the pink haired lady. "I had my people call your office if I could put in an order for a wedding dress but they said you'd be out of town and didn't know if you could make one on time! - It _has_ to be fate to run into you in person! I'm Kanna!"

She chuckled back, pushing her own drink aside. "Sakura. Pleasure to make your acquaintance," Sakura says politely to the energetic girl before her.

A couple feet away, Boruto and Shikadai are hiding behind a giant leafy plant not too far from the bar - their mouths dropped open in panic and disbelief. This was _NOT_ good. Boruto already has his phone out on speed dial, clutching it for dear life to warn everybody.

Naruto, elsewhere in the hotel searching, receives the voice message, to which he reacts with a flinch. He looks down a railing and below a chandelier sees the bar his son is talking about - where without a doubt two women are talking it up, Kanna more than the other. That's definitely Sakura Haruno. Naruto's face twists into one of such discomfort. "This cannot get any worse."

A buzz from his phone comes up, and Naruto checks it. It's a text from Itachi: " _Sasuke came back early. He's picking up Sarada and taking her to the hotel to have dinner with Kanna's family."_

Naruto looks up, as if pleading for mercy or an early death. "Kill me."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

I walk into the fancy hotel with Sasuke, standing beside him. All the staff seems to know him, and bow respectfully to him and greet him energetically. I feel myself shy towards Sasuke, still not as used to such grandeur. He makes his way past the reception area and we must be heading to a restaurant dining area, which the hotel appears to have a lot of. I wonder if I should've dressed better for the occasion.

"A reservation for five," Sasuke says to one staff member.

"Your table will be ready in about fifteen minutes. My most sincere apologies, Mr. Uchiha," the nervous woman says with a tiny stammer.

"No worries," Sasuke smiles, bring some comfort to the woman who had to deny _the_ Sasuke Uchiha his reserved table for some time. I look around for any familiar faces, hoping I won't see any. I can't help but be curious though. "Let's walk around a bit. Kanna texted me her parents are a little late."

"Okay."

Elsewhere in the hotel, luckily Sakura and Kanna's exchange didn't last too long. Sakura eventually excused herself from her new friend and the bar, left her money to the bartender, and went on her way with her purse. For a woman who brought just a sports duffel across the world, she sure dressed the part of a blue-blood. Shikadai and Boruto made sure to tail her from now on as to not lose her, but they kept their distance. Sometime in between, they received a text from Naruto saying Sasuke was on his way with Sarada to the hotel. Boruto didn't react too well to that news. None of the guys did, but they rolled with it.

Sakura is walking through another lobby, and pulls over a staff member to ask them a question, showing her phone to them. Shikadai and Boruto watch carefully, only to see from across the room Sasuke and I walking in the same general direction.

"Dude," Shikadai alerts.

"We can't let them see each other," Boruto panics, looking around for any ideas. He sees an elevator and quickly tells Shikadai what to do.

"I'm sorry 'mam, but no airport luggage was delivered to us today," the uniformed man apologizes.

Sakura sighs, unusually compliant with the bad news. "That's okay. Lost luggage happens sometimes."

"If you give me your room key number, I can have some staff send you up some complimentary items that should help you for your stay in Japan."

"Oh would you? That'd be amazing," Sakura responds gratefully, looking at this man like he'd just saved her life. And he looked happy to help the poor girl out.

In the corner of my eye, I can see my mother talking to hotel worker. I needed to distract Sasuke. Fast. "H-Hey Sasuke, I need to use the bathroom. Do you know where it is?"

"Yeah it's this way. Come on," he says, turning another way. I follow Sasuke, but look back to catch one more glimpse of my mother, and- Boruto?

"Help! Help Miss!" Boruto screams, suddenly appearing at my mother's side once the staff member walks away. He's tugging hard on her arm with a desperate look on his face. "Please you have to help me! My friend, he's stuck in the elevator! He can't breathe and I have his inhaler!"

 _Oh my god Boruto what are you doing_ , I think with a sick face. But I decide to not look back. It's okay. This was their job. Leave them to it and don't look back. I cling to Sasuke to steady myself, walking away.

"What? Where is he?" Sakura replies urgently, having Boruto lead her - and conveniently away from Sasuke and me before we can all cross paths.

Boruto drags the woman a short distance away to a pretty elevator, that's shut. Unknown to her, Shikadai is inside, pressing all the buttons the elevator can offer. "This should stall her," Shikadai smirks. This is probably this most devious thing he's ever gotten to do in his life of prim-and-proper raising.

The elevator door dings to open, and Shikadai on cue sinks to the floor on his knees, coughing. The elevator door opens with ease to a tall pink haired woman and Boruto. "Hey kid are you okay?" Sakura asks, running in without hesitation and kneeling beside a fake-coughing Shikadai. Once she's inside, Shikadai opens one eye and makes a run for it out of the elevator, and out of Sakura's hold. The shocked woman looks on and manages to catch Boruto press the button to close the elevator before sliding out. "H-Hey!" Sakura runs to the door but it closes on her. She presses the button to open it, but realizes it's already moving, and all the buttons for the elevator have been pressed. "You brats," she mutters, giving up on exiting.

"Haha," Shikadai and Boruto high five.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Sasuke waits outside the restrooms for me, to which Kanna eventually finds him. "Sasuke!" Kanna calls, finally finding him. She rushes in to hug him, which he barely returns. "There you are. My parents are finally here what are you waiting for?"

"Sarada's using the bathroom," Sasuke informs.

"Oh," Kanna frowns, clearly displeased.

Across them is the elevator, which dings open to yet another floor. Sakura leans against the back. After that whole prank, she decided it best to take a nap in her suite room. No use looking for her lost luggage now. At least she has her wallet. Once she's well-rested and caught up on decent sleep, she'll go out and look for her lost daughter.

She lectures herself as to why her room had to be on the top floor, and why her of all people had to be the victim of rich-brat pranks. Before she can instinctively go to press the close-door button (again), she halts, seeing a couple across the room, hugging. She sees her back, but she sees his face.

That face.

How could she forget that face.

"S... S-Sasu.. ke," Sakura blinks, knees trembling from utter shock. Her finger is an inch away from the button that would close the door. And oh how she wanted to close it, to get away from the sight of Sasuke holding another woman. But she just couldn't move.

And to make matters worse, the woman goes to kiss Sasuke.

That does it, and at that point the elevator doors close on their own, ever so slowly. Sasuke kissing another woman is the last sight Sakura sees before the doors shut in the center. She stumbles back to her original leaning spot against the back of the elevator. Her heart beating and breaking. She wasn't expecting to feel hurt like that so quickly and suddenly.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Sakura marches down the carpeted hall, breathing in deep and slow, maintaining her composure. She was sleep deprived, tired, worried for her daughter - _You know what? If she fared off by herself this long alright, she's fine. I'll just sleep for an hour or two and I'll go find her. Yeah_.

Sakura shows up to her room and brings out her key card, sliding it and going to open the door, only to see another person inside open the door instead. She comes face to face with a tall blonde man. He looks surprised - she _is_ surprised. "Ooohh," Naruto realizes, having not expected that moment to see her.

She slaps him hard in the face, ultimately defensive. Before she can yell and ask what he's doing in her room, Naruto recovers fast and covers her mouth, bringing her into the room before a scene can come about.

Sakura struggles in his apparently strong hold until the doors are shut behind them, and he releases her mouth and shoulders. "What the hell!?-" Sakura coughs, stepping back from Naruto who's now holding his cheek where he got slapped. Only then does she see they're not alone. There's a couple boys in the room, two of which sitting around she recognizes as the boys who called her downstairs. The elevator guys who pranked her. They're all staring at her.

"I can explain," Naruto holds his arm up, understanding how confused she must be.

"Who are you and what are you all doing in my room," Sakura states quickly, looking ready to knock somebody out.

"I'm a partner of Sasuke's," Naruto introduces first, still standing a safe distance away from her. He lets go of his cheek as to not look as pathetic talking to her. "I knew you were coming. For Sarada?"

Sakura's breath holds at the mention of her daughter. "You know where my daughter is?"

"She's been living with Sasuke and my family," Boruto steps up, from beside Naruto. He walks up to her, a little braver. Still nervous but his head is tall and his shoulders back. "She's doing okay, we promise."

Sakura shakes her head, still not able to comprehend a lot of this. She turns back to the adult of the room for answers. "Does Sasuke even know I'm here?"

"W-Well-" Before Naruto can talk, another knock on the door happens. He sighs out in relief. "Thank god," he goes to answer the door, and standing there are two figures. Itachi and- "Hinata?" Naruto says, his voice hitched.

"Oh boy," Boruto sinks back, seeing his mom.

Sakura looks on and sees the familiar Uchiha beyond the door. Likewise, the man looks up past Naruto and to her as well. There's this mutual recognition between the two - Itachi more calm than Sakura though, whose mind is racing.

"Naruto what's going on?" Hinata pleads her voice breaking as she slaps Naruto's chest. He stagger back a little as she steps into the room towards him. She sounds to be on the verge of crying. Half upset half angry, it would looks into the room, seeing all the kids and another pink-haired woman. Hinata goes around Naruto and hugs Boruto, still unsure about the scenario unfolding. She was just happy her family was alright. Boruto hugs his mother back in assurance.

"That's Sarada's mom," Boruto says to Hinata, looking up at her between their hug.

"What?" Hinata gasps, looking at the stranger again. The two mothers look at one another, having some kind of kinetic understanding together.

"You brought my _WIFE_?" Naruto lectures to the carefree Itachi, emphasizing every word. The Uchiha can't seem to be bothered though. Naruto looked ready to lose his hair.

"If we're gonna let everyone in on everything might as well include Hinata," Itachi figures. "She was bound to find out eventually. The only one now who doesn't know Sakura's here is Sasuke."

"Hold on," Sakura says loud and clear, all eyes on her again. "Itachi, do you know these people?"

"You know her?" Hinata asks, looking at the two men at the door.

Naruto stands frozen petrified, so Itachi takes the lead. "This is Sakura Haruno, Sarada's mother," Itachi formally introduces. "This _is_ Sasuke's business partner, Naruto." He looks to Sakura. "His wife, Hinata, and his son Boruto. These are his friends."

"My dad got your voicemail," Boruto admits, coming forward to the foreigner and away from Hinata. "I've been with Sarada since she came here so I'll tell you everything, okay?"

There's a silence that follows, but Sakura looks somewhat settled. Boruto seems to gain her trust she pulls over a seat from the vanity table and carefully sits down. "Okay," she says cautiously, "I'll play along."

"She... said that she wanted to meet her dad," Boruto starts to tell, all eyes on him and Sakura in the middle of the bedroom. Hinata stands by the bed where Mitsuki, Inojin and Shikadai are sitting. Itachi and Naruto stand by the closed door, looking on. "She knew while you were in Paris she could fly over to Japan and find Sasuke without you knowing. That's when I ran into her at the airport. She found Sasuke and my dad, and my dad ended up offering her a place to stay at the Uchiha Mansion. At the time Sasuke was under a lot of really bad press, so taking in a kid seemed like a good idea at the time."

Hinata looks at her husband, who looks down with guilty eyes. He hated having to deceive his wife. She was aware it was a bit of a publicity stunt, but she imagined it was from some program Naruto worked out with somebody - not that he randomly picked out a girl stuck at an airport.

"That's how Sarada ended up staying at the mansion with Sasuke and my family. But Sasuke didn't recognize her, so Sarada ended up keeping who she was a secret for a while. I was suspicious she was hiding something, and it wasn't until my friends and I ended up pressuring it out of her that she was Sasuke's daughter."

"We felt really bad about that," Inojin interjects from the bed. He frowns, guiltily, alongside Shikadai.

"She was scared Sasuke wouldn't accept her if he found out who she was," Boruto frowns, remembering it all. "She was afraid I'd tell on her too. But my friends and I agreed to keep her secret, so she could tell Sasuke when she was ready on her own time." He looks back at his own mom and dad. "I'm sorry for hiding it from you guys for so long too."

"Boruto..." Hinata listens, hearing all this for the first time. She looked almost as baffled as Sakura.

"But Sasuke treated her really well!" Boruto reminds himself to tell Sakura. "I-I mean, at first he didn't, but having Sarada around the mansion really changed him. And me, and my family. Sarada she... She made Sasuke and my dad start coming to breakfast more often so we could eat together. She changed something in Sasuke. He's more kind now, and more sympathetic. He has a really good relationship with Sarada, and I know he cares a lot about her. She just, couldn't bring herself to tell him the truth yet."

"There's also something you should know," Itachi says, coming up behind Boruto and holding him by the shoulders. The boy and Sakura look up at Itachi - the one face Sakura recognizes. "Sakura, do you remember the last time you came to Japan to visit my brother?"

"How could I forget?" Sakura chokes out quietly, trying to take in all this new information.

"I don't know if you'd remember, but you two got into a car accident one day. The both of you were unconscious for a couple days."

"I remember that," Sakura nods regretfully, her once strong demeanor now gone. "I woke up feeling terrible. And you were there." Itachi frowns, remembering with her just as vividly. "You... told me I was in an accident... that I'd been out a few days. You told me that I was pregnant." Boruto narrows his eyes, seeing now just how similar I looked to my mother. When we were sad, we looked so identical he thought. "I asked if the baby and Sasuke were okay... And you told me that Sasuke had woken up before me, and when he found out I was pregnant... he wanted nothing to do with me."

The sad atmosphere is thick, and Sakura has to shut her eyes and sigh out deep to keep it together. After rubbing her hands briefly over her face, she looks back up at Itachi with a strong look. "You helped send me back home, with money to support the baby." She shakes her head, stuck for words. "I can never repay you for what you did for me."

Itachi nods, feeling an unusual lump in his throat. "That's just it Sakura... Sasuke, never knew about the pregnancy."

Something cracks in Sakura, and Boruto backs up a little into Itachi, who clutches his shoulders a little tighter. Either out of protectiveness or nervousness. "What?" she says quite low.

"Sasuke had gotten the worst of the accident. He was still under sedation by the time you woke up," Itachi informs her regretfully. "You know Sasuke's father never fully supported your relationship, right?"

"Y-Yeah but-"

"While you were still asleep and the doctors found out about the baby first, our father wanted for you to have an abortion," Itachi states, as clear and empathetic as he can. Sakura's eyes widen, as do most of the others' listening. "And he was in full power to have it done before you could come out of sedation. Luckily my mother and I intervened and worked out a deal with our father - You were free to keep your child as long as you were apart from Sasuke. So, that's how we came up with the arrangement we did. At least this way, your baby could have a chance."

"Oh my god..." Sakura clasps her hand over her mouth, unable to believe it. "Y-You'r not serious are you? This is a really crappy joke, even for you Itachi."

"I'm terribly sorry for having to lie to you," Itachi frowns, sincerely regretful of what he had to do. "It was the only way to get you to leave without turning back."

Sakura looked ready to break down and cry. But with an audience, she tried her best to keep her revelations and tears together. She rubs her hands across her eyes again in her seat before leaning on her elbows looking completely exhausted. "What happened to Sasuke?"

"He was brought out of sedation once you left the country," Itachi goes on. "And, the only way to have him not come looking for you was to tell him that you didn't make it from the accident."

Sakura shakes her head in her seat. Was there no end to the bombs he'd drip. "You told him I died...?" she asks, her voice breaking.

Itachi didn't have the nerve to look away, but his sad look confirms it. Sakura loses her balance in her chair and ends up almost falling out of it, to which almost everyone goes to try and catch her. But Hinata arrives to her first, holding and supporting her by the arms and around. The two women look at one another with an understanding only two mothers in love could relate to.

"It was the only way," Shikadai comes in, coming up beside Boruto in front of Itachi. "We read Itachi's letters to Sasuke's dad. It took a lot of negotiation to get Sarada out of there."

"And it worked out," Boruto nods, trying to come between Sakura's mental break down. "Sarada's one of the best friends I've ever made in my life. She's amazing," he chokes up, Sakura's emotions contagious. He holds Itachi's hand over his shoulder. " It was the only way."

Sakura had to hold her hand over her eyes once to dry what was coming. She clasps onto Hinata's arm for support on their knees, controlling her breathing before sitting up straighter. She stands, with Hinata's help, and starts to walk up to Itachi. Boruto moves out from between them, as she stand right before him. Itachi's never been one to look shameful. "Look at me," Sakura orders, her tone low.

Boruto watches nervously as Itachi brings his eyes up to meet hers. This was the most sorrowful emotion he'd seen on Itachi's face since he arrived at the Uchiha Mansion. All the regret he must've felt the past twelve years were spurring all together now. The silence was deafening as all eyes awaited for what Sakura would say or do.

And eventually, she smiles, and throws her arms around the taller man in a grasp of a hug. "Thank you," Sakura whispers.

Boruto lets out a breath.

Itachi shakes his head, smiling a little. "I wish there was more I could've done. If there were any other way-"

"I know you would've found it," Sakura cuts off. "But there wasn't. You did what you had to do, and I know it wasn't easy."

"You're not upset?"

"Pft, of course," Sakura laughs, still hugging her old friend who's standing stoically still. "But thanks to you I was able to raise the most beautiful little girl in the world. You got to meet your niece, didn't you?"

"I did," Itachi laughs, finally hugging her back. Boruto smiles, as does Naruto and everyone else in the room who feels the relief and peace. "You did good," Itachi commends quietly.

Boruto lets out a grin glad everything worked out for the best. His own mom hugs him from behind, her hands clasped together in front of Boruto's chest as Boruto rubs his nose. Naruto leans back against the door, looking satisfied at the reunion and the eased out tensions.

Once content, Sakura releases the Uchiha and looks up at him, then everyone else. "So where's my daughter?"

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

I slide to Sasuke's left at the table. Kanna sits at the end, and her parents across Sasuke and me. Dinner at the hotel restaurant seems to drag on and I find myself eating a little slower just so I wouldn't have to make small talk. Sasuke doesn't look like he minds playing it out while I stay the pretty face. Then Kanna's parents seem to like doting on me, asking me about Sasuke and my stay in Japan so far and what I liked best about it - but other than that, I couldn't stand to hear any more about the useless wedding details.

" _Pst_!"

It's faint, and I almost think it's just me, but I eventually see a familiar hairstyle in between fancy potted bushes. It's Mitsuki.

I put my fork down and dab my mouth a little with a cloth. "May I be excused?" The adults let me leave and I walk off as calmly as I can. Once I'm out of the dining area, I speed walk past other tables and waiters to the plant Mitsuki is hiding behind. "Hey."

"Hey. I was told to bring you up to Sakura's room," he says.

"So she's here?" I ask with alarm.

"To warn you, _everyone_ 's here," Mitsuki almost chuckles. Oh god, everybody? "Boruto, Itachi and Naruto have already explained the situation to your mom upstairs. Everything. And Boruto's mom. She's here too."

"Everything?" I repeat uneasy. Mitsuki nods and I hang my head. Well, better them than me explaining it all I guess. I allow Mitsuki to escort me across the hotel to her room, but we take our time. While we're riding up in the elevator, I decide to tell Mitsuki. "Sasuke told me he knows he's my father."

Mitsuki rarely looks alarmed, so it's an interesting expression on him. He blinks twice before his head turns to me, looking like he wanted to know more. "He knew?"

"For a while yeah apparently," I admit defeated, leaning against the back of the elevator. I look at my shoes, which look pretty but are pretty uncomfortable. "He just pretended to be out of the loop all this time. Well, recently anyway. And now here I am, about to go face my mother. He doesn't even know she's here." I look to my friend, feeling the nausea in the pit of my stomach. "Tell me, do you think I'm in trouble?"

"It was hard to gauge, even for me," Mitsuki replies. "It was a lot of information for your mom to take in all at once. She handled it pretty well, I thought. But she did seem pretty worried about you the entire time. Even as I left to get you."

Before too long, we arrive on the floor and we're in front of these two double doors. My mom's right behind here, right on the other side. I stand for a while, just breathing. Mitsuki doesn't say anything or rush me, which I appreciate. There's goosebumps all alone my arms and my head feels warm. Faint. My throat feels dry and it takes two swallows to get it together. _Breathe Sarada breathe_.

"Hey," Mitsuki interrupts, reminding me he was there too. "It's going to be alright."

Hearing words of comfort from Mitsuki of all people sounds funnier to me than comforting, but it makes me chuckle a little. Content with that, I take a deep breath, hold it, and reach for the door handle.

Meanwhile within the room, there's a couple of standees, but sitting on the bed is Sakura, being comforted by Hinata who's holding her hand and rubbing her back. "All this and I never even knew," Sakura accepts, feeling a headache coming on.

"It's not easy, I can only imagine," Naruto says, handing her a glass of water and something to help the oncoming migraine.

She gratefully takes both. "I'm still mad," Sakura reassures to a somewhat nervous Naruto as she swallows the pill and water. She returns the glass to him while Hinata continues to rub her back and soothe her."So, what with you orchestrating this entire operation today, I need to ask you."

"Yes?" Naruto asks.

"Does Sasuke know I'm here?"

Naruto bites his lip, finding it hard to pull out answers for her. Hinata looks from Sakura to her husband, expecting an answer as well. "He doesn't," Naruto admits. "Itachi told him the truth about the whole ordeal with their dad just last week. We didn't have the heart to drop the bomb you were on your way to pick up your daughter and whisk her away."

"Does he know now at least who Sarada really is?" Sakura asks desperately.

Itachi and Naruto look at one another, and Naruto takes it upon himself to answer this too. "He does. He found that out just last week too. Sarada doesn't know he knows though."

"What game have you been playing with my poor kid?" Sakura asks accusingly.

"There's, one more thing you should know," Naruto frowns, feeling he should mention this before he loses face. "Sasuke's... engaged." This brings Sakura out of her headache, and she looks at Naruto to see if there's any lie in his eyes. The two exchange looks, silently.

At that moment, the door opens.

Inside, I look in shyly and see everyone standing or sitting around the foot of the bed. Shikadai and Inojin are sitting by the dresser, and Boruto's standing next to Itachi. Naruto stands in front of the bed, where Hinata and my mother are seated.

And she's the first person I see. "M-Mom?" I stammer, feeling my eyes water again. I really have turned into a crybaby.

"Oh my god Sarada," Sakura rushes, getting to her feet. I meet her midway and we share a strong tight embrace. She spins me around and I hang from her neck before we both just stand, clutching onto one another. "My sweetheart I can't believe it's you."

"Mom," I repeat, crying happy tears into her chest.

Everyone can't help but look on with solemn smiles. I can feel mom running her hand through my hair. I remember the last time she saw me it was long. "Oh my god look at you," she dotes, backing up a little and holding the sides of my face in her hands. I must look like a completely different person to her. She combs her fingers through the side of my head and she pushes some hair behind my ear. "You cut your hair...! A-And you found your old glasses where did you-?"

"I'm okay, Mom," I reassure, holding her wrists and tilting my head up at her. I can't help but smile. All my anxiety of meeting her again has washed away. I missed her, so so much.

She smiles and hugs me one more time, the familiar scent of her shampoo and perfume mixed together in a too familiar sensation. I've never enjoyed a hug from my own mother more in my life than right now.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

By the time 6:00pm hit, the sunset was already happening and the day would be coming to an end. At some point I had to return to the dinner with Sasuke and the Yamamotos, but once that was finished I had asked Sasuke if I could do a sleepover with the guys, wherein Boruto, Shikadai and Mitsuki showed up, persuading Sasuke that us kids needed a video game night before the ball tomorrow. Sasuke allowed it, and left the hotel alone that evening, leaving me with 'the guys'. In reality, Naruto had suggested I spend the night with my mom in the hotel instead, so we came up with this elaborate sleepover charades for Sasuke.

At that, Itachi, Naruto and Hinata had to leave and beat Sasuke back to the mansion, so we said our goodbyes fairly quickly. The boys would be sleeping over at Inojin's for the night, as Boruto couldn't go home tonight to keep up the cover story.

"I'll be back tomorrow morning early to pick you up so we can get you ready for the ball," Naruto tells me, standing at Sakura's suite door once everyone had left. Boruto stands besides his dad, waiting for him. "Be ready by eight a.m sharp okay?"

"Will do. Thank you so much for this Naruto," I say gratefully. Once he stuck the idea of me spending a night with my mom, I just couldn't let it go.

"Don't disappear on us, okay?" Naruto jokes warily, eyeing me then Sakura. "I'll have a lot to report to Sasuke if you suddenly leave the country."

"Don't worry, I'll have her ready," Sakura assures, garnering his trust. "I'm not going anywhere. Besides, I'm missing my return tickets so I'm kind of stuck here until I can wire money to my card."

Naruto looks bewildered. "What?"

"In the midst of rushing all the way over here, I lost my luggage on the way to Japan I think," Sakura explains, knocking the side of her head. "I forgot to put a return address on my luggage so god knows where it is. Luckily I have my wallet on me but all my other cards are back at home."

"You're pretty unconventional," Naruto chuckles. He looks to me and hands me a card from his pocket. "Here's my company card. Use it for whatever you and your mom need. Sasuke won't see the charges on this one."

"Thanks, Naruto," I smile, before elbowing my mom behind me.

"Ow," she mutters, glancing at me before looking at Naruto. "Thank you," she forfeits.

"Good night," Naruto nods. He pats his son on the shoulder and nudges him along to be dropped off at Inojin's. Boruto looks back at me before disappearing with his dad. Eventually, I close the door and it's just mom and me.

"Damn," Sakura says, picking the heavy credit card from me and looking at it in the light. "How the hell did you get yourself mixed up with guys like these?"

"I should be asking you that," I scoff. "You're not as mad as I thought you'd be. Unless, you are?"

"I was, but I think I've cooled off by now," Sakura sighs, returning Naruto's card to me. "I missed you too much. I hope you know you're not sleeping tonight; we have a lot to catch up on." An excited grin comes on my face. She smiles back and winks at me. "The concierge sent me up some complimentary spa pajamas to borrow during my stay at the hotel, and I can have them send up another set for you."

"We can order some room service snacks," I grin, holding Naruto's platinum card between my fingers with a grin. I'm not one to flaunt money, but hotel snacks have always been a guilty pleasure between my mom and me. We've always been cheap enough though to not order unless my mom's work paid for it. This can count, right?

My mom looks judgmentally at me and my trying smile. Maybe she thought better of me. Should I not be using Naruto's card for expensive hotel snacks? Maybe she's right. This is for necessities. I should know better. Her narrowed judgmental look goes on for a few more seconds before she walks away. "Where's the menu."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Hahahaa, a-and, a-and then the soap flooded the entire basement," I laugh, sitting across my mom on the bed in matching pajamas. She laughs just as hard as me as I tell her the story of when I was teaching Boruto and Naruto how to do laundry. They had messed up big time and added way too much detergent soap, flooding a good part of the mansion - and pissing Sasuke off beyond help.

We spent the better half of the night catching up on each other's summers. My mom's job designing in Paris - my adventures in the Uchiha Mansion with the Uzumakis and Sasuke. Mom seemed more interested in my ventures though - particularly the ones involving me and the guys as well as the developments between Sasuke and me. "Dad was really hard to like in the beginning I have to admit. If I'd flooded the mansion during my first two weeks there he would've kicked me out on the street haha."

"That's Sasuke for sure," Mom laughs, catching her breath. "He definitely had a temper, but he totally has a soft spot." She sighs, dipping another banana slice on a stick into the chocolate fondue pot - another thing we managed to order from room service between the candy and junk food. "And your new friends sound interesting."

"That's a nice way to put it," I comment, brushing a couple crumbs off the bedding. "They got on my nerves so much in the beginning. They were these insane rich snobs that just drove me up the wall I swear."

"That Boruto kid seems pretty level headed," Mom comments. "He's the one who explained a lot of your situation to me, actually."

"Really? Boruto?" Wasn't he like, terrified of my mom?

"He seems pretty protective of you," she comments, tossing a chip into her mouth. "Do ya like him?"

" _Mooom_ ," I shove as she laughs. "What about you huh? Aren't you happy Dad never really left the way we thought he did?"

"I suppose," she sighs. I know she's been avoiding the topic all night. "It'd help if he knew I was actually here."

"He can!" I say excitedly. "C'mon Mom! I saw your yearbooks! And Ino told me all the stories! And Gaara too!"

"You spoke to Ino? _And_ Gaara?"

I nod, realizing this must be a shocker to her. She hadn't spoken to them in years I recall. "Yeah. Inojin's Ino's son actually. And Shikadai? He's Gaara's nephew."

"Wow," she nods, taking that in. "Small world."

"Yeah don't change the topic. You were totally in love with him! And I know for sure Sasuke never got over you!"

"That's a pretty bold statement, Sarada," Mom says half-heartedly.

"Because it's true!"

"You don't know how I feel," she says gently, trying to calm down my excited personality. "It's been years since I've been with Sasuke. And I'm in the middle of my career. I'm too busy with travel and shows and appointments - I barely have time to spend at home with you."

"So you're not too busy to raise a daughter but you're too busy to be with my father?" I tease.

"Lay off," she smiles, tapping my nose. There's this far away look that remains in her eyes though, as if she wants to say something. But she doesn't.

"Mom what's wrong?" I ask, a little quieter.

Her lips flatten. It's something she does when she's thinking. "I know that your father's engaged." _What?_ "Naruto told me. Getting back together with Sasuke wasn't on my agenda when coming to Japan and it never will be, okay? And knowing the truth about what happened in that hospital after that car accident doesn't change anything either. You'll be coming back home with me at some point, and that's that."

I frown in disbelief. "But Mom-"

"Let's change the topic," she suggests with a hand up to stop whatever I was going to say. She scoots over and pulls me closer to her side- as well as the white-chocolate covered mini strawberries. "Tell me about this giant ball everyone's talking about that's happening tomorrow. It sounds pretty important."

I scoff. "I'm tired of stuffy events like that. It's just gowns and acting all prim and proper. You know."

"No I don't know," Sakura laughs. "We're well off Sarada but we're not _Uchiha_ well-off. You know first hand how different living with your dad is. That's real blue-blood money. Hell, I can barely imagine you in a dress. Much less the types of ball gowns they must put you in."

"You should come," I suggest, looking up at her as I lean back. "Swoop Sasuke off his feet."

"It wouldn't work out like that, sweetie."

"Please," I say, not in a pleading but sad and desperate way. "Sasuke's announcing his engagement tomorrow, Mom. And she's terrible for him. He doesn't even love her."

"That's an even bigger reason I shouldn't go," she says with wide eyes and a laugh.

"Yes it is! This is wrong and you know it!" I beg, sitting up again and facing her this time. "I know now why you try to stay away from the spotlight and the big-money; Sasuke's marrying a woman he doesn't even want to marry. And Boruto and the guys don't even blink at it."

"That's how they do things, Sarada."

"Well it's not right," I argue. "Sasuke told me today that he knows he's my dad." This catches Sakura's attention. "I _know_ he still loves you. If he knew you were here maybe he'd-!"

"That's enough," Sakura politely halts, holding my shoulder. "I came here to take my daughter back, not disrupt the Uchiha lifestyle. Again."

"You have to see him at some point," I say tryingly. "You can't just kidnap me without Sasuke knowing."

"Sarada you're my daughter. Me taking you is _not_ kidnapping you."

"Well you can't just run away from Sasuke again." Saying it that way seems to have hit hard to Mom, and I almost regret saying what I did. I hold her hands half apologetically and half encouragingly. "Hear me out. I know you want to take me back right after the ball, but can we stay just a little longer? Please?"

"Sarada I don't think that's a good idea."

"Just for the rest of the month of August! Just until the end of summer break-"

"No."

"Mom two weeks-"

"I'm not having it-"

"Let me have a dad!" I reword sternly, catching her tongue. "Mom for _once_ in my life let me have a dad. It's finally out there that he and I know who we are! Let me be his daughter and let him be my dad. I've never wanted anything more in my entire life," I beg, refusing to cry again. " _Please_ Mom."

I can see my mom struggling with the decision. I squeeze her hands, silently pleading with her. She shuts her eyes, tired with eye bags. "One week," she allows. "As soon as I have my money wired back to me I'm booking our flight a week after tomorrow. We're going back home, whether you like it or not."

"Okay," I give in. "That's all I ask for."

"Good," Mom gives in, giving me another hug. "Because once we get home you're grounded till Christmas."Still, a week? That isnt as much time as I would've wanted. Not as much time to get my mom to change her mind about Sasuke. Not as much time to break up my dad and Kanna. Oh my god this is insane am I really doing this?

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

In Inojin's room the boys all sit around with sleeping bags around Inojin's bed. It's only their second official sleep over - and it's to house Boruto so Sasuke can think I'm out having a sleepover too. "What a crazy day," Shikadai sighs, leaving the bathroom with his toothbrush.

"You're telling me," Boruto says tiredly, laying face down on his sleeping bag.

"So what's supposed to happen tomorrow?" Inojin asks, sitting at the end of his bed.

"We all go to the ball with our parents; same ordeal," Boruto explains, turning over his his voice can be better heard. "Sarada will be there at least, but I know Sakura wants to take her back soon after to head home."

"She's not really leaving that soon is she?" Mitsuki asks.

"I don't know!" Boruto answers, not really wanting the answer either. "I'd text her and ask, but she's having quality time with her mom. I don't want to interrupt that." _Will I even get to talk to her alone before she has to leave? I probably won't see her tomorrow since we'll all be getting ready, so it won't be until the ball we see each other_. He can still feel the light touch of a kiss on his cheek from his morning. _Shit wait she doesn't even have her phone._

A buzz comes from Boruto's phone, and he goes to check it. It's an unknown number, calling and he almost disregards, but he answers anyway. "Hello?"

" _Boruto_?" my voice reaches, startling Boruto.

"Sarada?" Boruto stammers, causing the other boys to turn and listen as well from different points in Boruto's room.

" _I'm using the hotel phone_ ," I whisper from inside the bathroom. I'm running the tub water to cover my voice, so my mom doesn't hear. " _We have one week from tomorrow to break up Sasuke and Kanna before I go back to the U.S, got that_?" Boruto's head is ringing again in alarm. One week. One week is all they have? " _Boruto please I really need your help on this one. I don't have a lot of time_."

"We got this," Boruto finally says, his mouth dry. "Don't worry. I got your back, remember?"

He can almost imagine her smile on the other end. "Thank you."

"Get some sleep. The guys and I will think of something. I'll see you at the mansion tomorrow." Skipping the goodbyes, he hears the dial tone on the other end. _I guess it really was a quick call_.

"What was that?" Shikadai asks rediciously, not liking the look on Boruto's face.

Boruto looks at everyone's expectant stares. "She goes back home one week from tomorrow," Boruto delivers, saying it like it's some unreal statement. The news settles into each of the boys' faces differently. They're seeing the end game. Boruto's sterns, and he looks at them with dead serious eyes. "We're going to break up Sasuke and Kanna if it's the last thing we do."

* * *

 **NEXT CHAPTER:**

 ** _"Morning, Sarada," Naruto smiles._**

 ** _"Good morning," I grin, happy to see him. Boruto's not with him I notice, and then I remember he must still be sleeping over at Inojin's with the rest of the guys. "How's Sasuke?"_**

 ** _"Stressed. Doesn't suspect a thing," Naruto smiles confidently. I let him come in just as Mom gets out of bed. She has bed hair and a groggy pose, sitting on the bedside with one sock and a hanging bra strap. A huge contrast to Naruto's neatly ironed slacks and shirt. Geez Mom have some decorum._**

 ** _x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x_**

 ** _"I don't have that choice and you know it," Sasuke admits, shaking his head. "Besides, I told her yesterday."_**

 ** _"What. Told her what?"_**

 ** _"That I know we're related, on our way to the hotel," Sasuke says, and Naruto's face distorts. "That I'm her dad."_**

 ** _"You just up and told her?!" Naruto freaks out, recalling the events going on yesterday. "Of all times then?!"_**

 ** _"I don't have a lot of time left with her," Sasuke frowns. "Whatever remaining days she has here in the mansion before we return her home, I'd rather everything be out and open between us. Even if I'm not all that present I changed my mind last minute and thought it'd be best."_**

 ** _x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x_**

 ** _Naruto shakes his head. "I can't imagine. That's love I guess," he shrugs. Curiously he looks down to his son. "So, anything going on between you and Sarada?"_**

 ** _"DAD," Boruto shouts accidentally. But the reddening in his face says it all. Naruto's smile slinks into a teasing look, so Boruto shoves the man. Not that it does much. "She's just a friend."_**

 ** _"Really?"_**

 ** _"I'm not having this discussion, Dad."_**

 ** _"Just sayin, don't wait man," Naruto advises casually._**

 ** _x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x_**

 ** _"Why are you doing all this?" Sakura asks shaking her head. "Aren't you just like his business partner or something?"_**

 ** _"He's also one of the best friends I've ever had," Naruto mentions, "so he why never bothered to mention you to me I'll smack him for later. But if it wasn't for Sasuke, I wouldn't be where I am today; happy and with my own family? It's crazy. And Sasuke deserves the same thing. He's a good guy."_**

 ** _Sakura's smile flattens distraught , unsure how to feel about everything happening around her._**


	25. Operation: Black Out Pt1

**Chapter 25: Operation: Black Out Pt1**

 ** _It's finally the day - the final presentation of everything Sasuke Uchiha has molded from his summer protegee. Alongside all the prep for the ball there's also a ton of loose ends to take care of. Do Sakura and Sasuke really not stand a chance? Sarada is willing to pull every stop to make sure Sasuke's engagement never happens. Between all the strategic underhanded plots by the kids, Boruto finally comes to terms with his feelings. Will Sakura walk away or take a chance to make things right with the man she was meant to be with? Can Sarada and Sasuke really be just father and daughter for once in their lives?_**

* * *

Early the next morning, I was already up at 5 a.m. We'd gone to sleep a little past midnight, but I've never been able to sleep long and well in new places. It took me days to get used to sleeping in the Uchiha Mansion when I first started living in Japan. Even in a luxurious hotel suite like this it still didn't feel like home.

Mom however slept like a rock. In fact she's still in the bed, hogging all the newly required space since I'd left.

I sit at the vanity dresser brushing my hair in front of the mirror. Not having my cell phone, I just remained quiet with my reflection waiting for the sunrise to complete. In all honesty I've been mentally preparing myself for today. The grand ball to be held in Sasuke Uchiha's mansion was this evening, and it was so unnerving to think about. How this entire day ends could very well shape the rest of the course of my life.

As if that wasn't already enough to think about, spurts of thoughts of Boruto will flutter in and out of my brain. _I still have to face him eventually_. About that kiss he gave. And I gave. _Ugh_. I don't know what's worse to think about.

Eventually a quiet ring from the hotel phone starts to go off. I get up to answer as quickly as I can before it can disturb my mom. "Hello?"

" _Yes this is room service. There's someone by the name of Naruto Uzumaki here to pick up a Miss Sarada?_ "

"Yes you can send him up," Sarada answers before hanging up the telephone. My mom stirs in bed, her groggy face turning towards me in her pillow. "That was Naruto. He's here to pick me up," I whisper low.

"I miss you always being the first up," she drowses on affectionately. Oh Mom. I remember back home in our New York apartment, most times I'd be the one to get up first. If Karin wasn't around, I was usually the first one showered and dressed and making breakfast. Getting up early for school was already a routine for me, but Mom getting up early after long nights in her studio drawing or running paperwork was never a consistent thing.

Before too long there's a polite knock on the doors. "Alright Mom, get up." My mom puts her face back down in her pillow and groans as I go to get it. Opening the left of the double doors I see Naruto standing right outside.

"Morning, Sarada," Naruto smiles.

"Good morning," I grin, happy to see him. Boruto's not with him I notice, and then I remember he must still be sleeping over at Inojin's with the rest of the guys. "How's Sasuke?"

"Stressed. Doesn't suspect a thing," Naruto smiles confidently. I let him come in just as Mom gets out of bed. She has bed hair and a groggy pose, sitting on the bedside with one sock and a hanging bra strap. A huge contrast to Naruto's neatly ironed slacks and shirt. _Geez Mom have some decorum_.

He also looks between mother and daughter, somewhat shocked to see the dynamic difference as well. "Do you usually get up early?" Naruto asks curiously.

While I answer yes, at the same time my mom answers no. Naruto stares for a minute for chuckling to himself. "Oh," he says, reaching into his pocket. It's my cellphone from Sasuke. "Snagged this for ya."

Sakura watches him toss it to me, which I receive happily. "Sarada has her own cellphone here too?" she asks from the bed.

"She came to Japan without one, so Sasuke eventually got her one to keep in touch easier," Naruto explains as I look back sheepishly. I can see her in a somewhat irritated stare that she must realize I left my phone behind at home on purpose. "Say Sarada, the limo's parked outside by the lobby entrance. Why don't you head down and I'll be there in a bit. I'll just talk to Sakura for a minute," Naruto requests.

"Sure thing," I nod, somehow not being too comfortable with Naruto and my mom talking alone without me.

Naruto shuts the suite doors after me and Sakura fixes her bra strap, standing up and walking over to Naruto. "Alright. I'm all ears," she supposes as she stands casually in her sleepwear.

Naruto accidentally eyes her up and down, a little caught off guard at how shameless she is standing before a male stranger like this. Was she really a world-renowned fashion designer? "I'm gonna explain what's going down today okay?" Sakura nods at him. "The Uchiha Ball is taking place at Sasuke's mansion at 6pm this evening. We're just taking Sarada there to get hair and make up done; last minute dress fitting. Some photography before the guests start to arrive. That's all." Sakura looks skeptical. "H-Hey don't look like that. We're not forcing her to do anything she wouldn't want to do. She's under watch from house staff at all times, and my son's going to be at the mansion too. He always makes sure she stays out of trouble." _Though I'm pretty sure it's the other way around_.

Sakura eventually lets out a sigh, crossing her arms. "Sorry if I come off a little abrasive. This is all still a big shocker to me."

"I can't blame you."

"Plus, I can barely imagine my daughter willingly going along with all these rich-people shenanigans," Sakura goes on, her expression a little more gentle. "She has so much stage fright and doesn't do very well with crowds. She'd rather run home than deal with public speaking. Sarada used to be so self-conscious in dresses. It took everything I could to even get her to try one of my designs back home sometimes, much less wear one out."

"That's not the Sarada I know," Naruto laughs, trying to imagine such a girl.

"She grew up," Sakura shakes her head, a small proud smile creeping on her face. "So fast over the summer. I had no idea."

"Hey," Naruto cuts off, giving her encouraging arm rub. "You were a great mom. Not that I have any liberty to say this, but she turned out great. Seriously, Sarada's a great kid. You should be proud."

"Really?"

"Flying out across the world to go meet her own father? I don't know any kid brave enough to pull off a stunt like that," Naruto scoffs. "Not that, I'm encouraging deceiving one's mother at all." She laughs. "But she's brave. Smart. I don't know what she told you last night when she stayed with you here but that girl did so much for my family just living in the mansion with us," he tries to explain, pointing at the door I just walked through. "Hell Sasuke's a way different person now from when Sarada first moved in. _She_ did that." He gives off this charming sincere Naruto-smile. "She must've gotten it from somewhere."

There's a small bashful blush coming onto the proud woman's face. "Thank you, Naruto."

"Of course," Naruto says with gracious open arms.

"And how's Sasuke?" Sakura brings up hesitantly, but sincerely curious about his well being as well. "He doing okay?"

"As okay as an asshole can be," Naruto says difficulty, scratching his head with a laugh. "To be honest I have no idea how you put up with a dumbass like him for so many years."

"Oh trust me, I was well aware," Sakura laughs, causing the two to finally connect on something. "He's engaged, you say?"

Naruto feels for the woman before him. Her eyes show it all. "It's an arranged marriage, if that makes it any better. Mm, not really I suppose." Both faces drop a little at the topic. "...Why don't you come?" Naruto says suddenly. "Come to the ball. No one's told Sasuke you're here out of privacy but, he should know."

"No," Sakura politely declines with a hand nervous laugh. "It wouldn't be right. Coming to my ex's engagement party? It's probably best Sasuke never knew I was here."

"I disagree." Naruto reaches into a pocket in the jacket he's holding and pulls out a pearlescent envelope. Handing it to her she opens the flap and finds a fancy invitation to the ball. "Think about it," he suggests. "It'd mean a lot to Sarada for you to see how far she's come. Personally I don't think the marriage is right either."

Sakura looks up from the invitation.

"The only reason Sasuke is going through with the marriage is to protect Sarada."

"What are you talking about?"

"He's been working for years on ways to buy up the other parts of the Uchiha company, we wouldn't be in a position to have to merge to survive. These past few weeks he's been on it non stop," Naruto tries to explain. "If Sasuke could have 100% ownership of the company like he was meant to, the merge wouldn't be necessary and Sasuke could easily say no to the board about an arranged marriage."

"His dad only handed him down 65%," Sakura recalls nostalgically.

"How do you know that?"

"H-He used to complain about family stuff when we were kids," Sakura starts remembering form high school. "He had a lot of pressure inheriting his dad's position, knowing he'd be going in not owning all of it. I didn't really get it back then but I'm starting to now."

"Because of that, if the board finds out he has an heir," Naruto points out, "Sarada's going to be the one stuck in an arranged marriage for the merge instead. That's the last thing he wants."

Sakura stares ridiculously at Naruto, half trying to process Sasuke's position and also comprehending Sasuke actually going so out of his way to protect his own daughter like this.

"He doesn't want to marry that woman," Naruto restates, to reassure her. "He's trying his best to go behind the Konoha Enterprise's back and buy up the rest of his company slowly, but he needs time. Once this engagement happens tonight though it's going to be tough tuning back."

"So he's had this back up plan all along?"

"He wasn't sure it was going to work in time, so he hasn't told Sarada or anybody," Naruto admits. "At the rate I've been watching him, I don't think he'll be able to do it by tonight either, especially with all the prep he has to do for tonight. But," Naruto holds her hand holding the invitation," if you came and gave him a reason to postpone the engagement, he'd have more time."

"Wait wait, hold up," Sakura steps back with a crazed laugh. "Are you seriously suggesting I party crash one of the most expensive balls in Japan and home wreck an engagement proposal?"

"Am I not being obvious enough? What," Naruto argues.

"You're insane," Sakura smiles disbelievingly, pointing at the Uzumaki. She turns around to go to her vanity mirror and lean on it for a minute. There's a moment of silence while she thinks to herself. "I'll think about it," she finally lets out.

Naruto holds his hands up from where he was standing. "That's all I ask for," he says. Sakura can see him in the vanity mirror reflection. "Oh," he remembers, and she watches him leave the room momentarily. Sakura stands straighter and turns around to see what he's doing, and he walks back into the suite with a hotel luggage rack. Hanging on it is a grand ballgown. Her eyes bug out.

"I never got to play fairy god mother before," Naruto grins, standing beside the rack. She slowly walks up to him, staring at it. "If I'm gonna play the part I'm gonna do it right. Oh come on you design dresses just like this. Don't look so shocked."

"N-Naruto what are you doing with this?"

"Itachi organized it," Naruto blames. "He got you a gown he said was your size, and there's shoes and accessories in this bag." He turns the gown hanger around, revealing a shopping bag from one of Japan's biggest brands."

"Why are you doing all this?" Sakura asks shaking her head. "Aren't you just like his business partner or something?"

"He's also one of the best friends I've ever had," Naruto mentions, "so why he never bothered to mention you to me I'll smack him for later. But if it wasn't for Sasuke, I wouldn't be where I am today; happy and with my own family? It's crazy. And Sasuke deserves the same thing. He's a good guy."

Sakura's smile flattens distraught, unsure how to feel about everything happening around her.

"And for what it's worth, despite all the magazine and web articles, I've never seen Sasuke date another woman in his life or get remotely close to it. And I went to college with the guy." Naruto leaves at that and proceeds to the door. He looks back one more time before shutting the door. "Think about it!" he yells again, pointing a childish arm and then leaving.

Sakura groans thoughtfully, sitting back on her vanity chair and staring at the gown and shopping bag.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Once we pull up to the mansion run straight out and the maids will show you were to go."

"We wouldn't be in such a rush if you didn't take so long talking with my mom. What the hell were you doing? Telling her your life story?"

The limo pulls up in front of the mansion. "Shut up and get going," Naruto bum rushes, pushing me out of the limo. There's a familiar butler and maid waiting there who hold their hands out, and I rush to meet with them as they show me in. The ballroom is a storm of staff help setting up. Musicians and food vendors and florists setting up and whizzing all over the place. I've seen events happen at the mansion before but this was the most prep I've ever seen before. And it's only 8:30.

The maid leads me to another parlor room on the same floor, and inside the naturally-lit room there's Tsunade and a team of women. There's some working on a dress on the other side of the room I can't quite see, and the other half by a set up vanity with lights and make up and all this other equipment. It was intense.

"Sarada you made it," Itachi comes around the corner from another door. He nods at the maid who bows and leaves me with them.

"Good morning," I smile, looking like we're getting ready for a big show. I guess we are in a way. "Is all this really necessary for just me?"

"Yes," Itachi and Tsunade both answer, her coming up beside him. "Morning kiddo. Get some good sleep?" I nod confidently, and she grins. "Good girl. Come here there's some people I want you to meet." She comes back to her work area where three women are setting up. Itachi remains by the door. "Sarada this is Kurenai, Tenten and Shizune. They'll be doing your make up, hair and accessories."

"Hi," I greet shyly.

This girl Tenten eagerly shakes my hand with both of hers. "Oh my god you're adorable," she squeals. "I can't wait to work on you!"

"Thank you," I grin, loving her bubbly personality so early in the morning.

Itachi watches content by the door as Sasuke appears at the entrance behind him. "I see she's all set," Sasuke notices, seeing the women charismatically fawn over his daughter. "You ready? We have some things to take care off before rehearsal in my office with Naruto."

"Alright," Itachi nods. "Sarada! Will you be okay on your own? We have rehearsal downstairs in fifteen minutes so after Tsunade explains to you what you'll be doing meet us in the ballroom okay?"

"Psh she's in good hands," Tsunade answers for me, a hand over my head. "And we'll be fast."

Sasuke walks over to me as the women get their equipment ready. "Get some good sleep? Sorry to have you up so early for something like this."

"No I don't mind."

"How was the sleepover?"

"It was fun," I lie. "The guys were silly as usual but they slept like rocks, haha."

"Naruto told me Boruto slept in when he got you and will be coming in later. Tsunade mentioned girls need a bit more gimme to get ready anyway. Hinata's down the hall getting her hair and make up planned with the family stylist."

"Wow," I smile. And part of me is glad Boruto isn't here yet. With everything going on I don't know if can face him again, yet. I don't now how the hell I'm facing Sasuke right now. The longer I look him in the eye, the more I remember that he's aware I'm his daughter. Yeah he told me in the limo yesterday but we haven't actually had a moment yet to sit down and really _talk_ about it.

"Sasuke," Kanna's voice chimes. She comes into the parlor passing and completely ignoring Itachi. She comes up to the two of us. "Here you are. I was looking for you all over the mansion for the past ten minutes-" She spots Tsunade by the vanity to the right of my chair. "Oh my gosh," she whispers, clasping onto Sasuke's arm. "Is that _the_ Tsunade? How the hell did you get her?"

"Personal friend."

Kanna's eyes start to sparkle. "Babe you got Tsunade to do my makeup and hair? You shouldn't have!" she goes on, leaning her head on my father's shoulder. I couldn't help but grimace, not even bother trying to hide it.

"Actually she's here for Sarada," Sasuke responds factually. "I hired her as Sarada's personal stylist for the day. Yours is in the room down the hall with Hinata."

I bite my lip to keep down the chuckle trying to come out, and I feel a hand on my shoulder. "Alright I've got to get to work. Everyone out," Tsunade begins to shoe, not even bothering to hide her smoldering glare at the woman who came barging in. Kanna sends a pout before walking out arm in arm with Sasuke.

"Actually I'll be the one to escort you to the family stylist," Itachi says at the door. "Sasuke has more important things to attend to for the morning before rehearsal."

I stifle another laugh as the adults disappear, Kanna clearly displeased.

Tsunade scoffs. "That's enough entertainment for one morning. Alright kid. I'm going to show you a couple examples of hair and make up we thought would work best for you. Mind going over them so we can plan what we'll do for you later?"

"Sure."

Tsunade ends up sitting me down in a chair by the glowing vanity mirror as she hands me a digital pad. We begin going over looks she and her team have prepared in a little file presentation, to help narrow down my look for the ball this evening.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"And the transfers are working?" Naruto asks, working in private with Sasuke in his office. Doors closed.

"Not fast enough for them to happen tonight," Sasuke admits in defeat, closing his laptop at his desk. He looked beyond exhausted. He barely got any sleep. On the edge of the desk sits an engagement ring in a purple velvet box. The two met wait around quietly in thought. "As of right now I only own about 70% of the company. It's better but still not enough. I don't have enough time to go through the process by tonight."

"I understand," Naruto nods, not liking the idea of giving in.

"I appreciate the idea," Sasuke half smiles, out of character and trying to comfort his partner. "It just wasn't meant to be."

"Are you really going to go through with this?" Naruto tries one more time. He glances at the ring beside Sasuke. "Don't you want more time with Sarada?"

"I don't have that choice and you know it," Sasuke admits, shaking his head. "Besides, I told her yesterday."

"What. Told her what?"

"That I know we're related, on our way to the hotel," Sasuke says, and Naruto's face distorts. "That I'm her dad."

"You just up and told her?!" Naruto freaks out, recalling the events going on yesterday. "Of all times then?!"

"I don't have a lot of time left with her," Sasuke frowns. "Whatever remaining days she has here in the mansion before we return her home, I'd rather everything be out and open between us. Even if I'm not all that present I changed my mind last minute and thought it'd be best."

"Well you're not wrong," Naruto frowns too. "But still..."

A knock from the office door, before a small blonde head pops in. It's Boruto. "Hey Dad, Sasuke."

"You're late," Sasuke notes as the boy closes the door behind him.

"Sorry, my alarm didn't go off," Boruto lies sheepishly, scratching his head. "The maids also said that the instructor is here in the ballroom. He's ready whenever everyone else is."

Within a few minutes, the rest of us were all brought out into the ballroom. When walk out from the hall way beside the ballroom staircase, I see Sasuke, Naruto, Kanna, Hinata and Boruto all scattered around the base of the main stairs - alongside a man with a mustache and big heavy glasses. He must be the organizer the family hired.

"Ah, the Uchiha protege," the skinny old man greets, holding his arm out to me to join the group. He sounds so friendly, and looks old and fragile enough to be a great grandfather. "It's such a privilege to meet you. I've heard a lot about you."

"Aw that's so sweet," I smile, shaking his wrinkly hand. In the corner of my eye I can see Boruto a little further away. My breath hitches and I feel my heart start to beat a little harder, so I look away. What the hell am I feeling?

"Now that we're all here, I'm going to lead you all through the procession of the announcement tonight," the instructor begins to explain. "Master Naruto will be escorting Lady Hinata. Following will be Itachi escorting Miss Kanna. Afterwards Master Boruto, Miss Sarada and Master Sasuke will come out, and he will give a speech to welcome guests once the family has presented themselves. At that Miss Sarada will step forward to Master Sasuke's right and he'll be introducing his protegee as well."

I gulp a little, realizing how ceremonial this is beginning to sound. I feel Sasuke come up behind me and put a comforting arm around my shoulder, as if to assure me. "After that, Naruto and Hinata will come down the stairs, followed by Itachi and Kanna, then Sasuke. And then Master Boruto," the instructor turns to the crossed-arms boy standing against the stair railing. "You will escort Miss Sarada down."

"M-Me?" Boruto stammers out, suddenly flustered.

The oblivious instructor nods, and I feel my shoulders tense as I fold my hands together in front of me. A nervous tick. Oh my god why am I going to be walking down of everybody with Boruto of all people? Why not Sasuke? "After all the introductions are over and down with, the orchestra will be performing a waltz and the first dances will begin. Shall we?" he gestures his hand to the dance floor of the ballroom.

We all come around as the instructor pulls me forward. I feel awkward and clumsy, even standing in front of my own family. "Technically this is your party. As tradition, you will be dancing with all the men of the household. Every young male in the ball you owe at least one dance."

"Every guy?" I repeat, caught off guard.

"As a bachelorette yes, is per tradition," the old man nods with a smile. "Sasuke has the first dance. Sasuke you're familiar with the waltz yes?"

"I'm not that rusty," Sasuke laughs.

He nods. "Very well. Let's have the kids dust off the waltz then. Come Boruto."

With a hand behind my back the instructor invites Boruto to come forward, and he has us assume the familiar dancing position. Immedietly I feel my whole body warm and my heart start beating a little faster.

He plays from a nearby music player an example of the waltz music, and Boruto and I sway to the song. He and I are silent the whole time, mostly because the instructor is pointing out small changes in our steps or posture the whole time. All I can remember however is the heat in my face and the sweatiness in my palms I pray Boruto doesn't notice - as well as the lack of eye contact I just can't bring myself to have.

At the same time though, I find myself liking this moment despite that.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Once the quick fifteen minute rehearsal was over, everyone was dismissed to continue preparing for the ball. That meant me and the women were back off to hair and make up. Itachi and Sasuke had loose ends to tie up work-wise, and Naruto was escorting his son to the guys' stylist across the mansion for a final suit fitting.

"What happened?" Naruto speaks up casually. "You're great at the waltz. You stepped on Sarada's feet like twice."

"Shut up," Boruto blushes, hands deep in his pockets as he glares away from his dad.

Naruto rolls his eyes. _Teenagers_. "I picked Sarada up this morning from the hotel. Her mom's still undecided about tonight."

"Is she."

Naruto nods. "I tried my best to persuade her to come, but to be honest it's fifty/fifty. She's hard to read."

"She's a scary woman," Boruto shrinks, remembering all of the day before. "I don't know how a person like her can overpower someone like Sasuke. Or if he could make her as timid as Sarada."

Naruto shakes his head. "I can't imagine. That's love I guess," he shrugs. Curiously he looks down to his son. "So... anything going on between you and Sarada?"

"DAD," Boruto shouts accidentally. But the reddening in his face says it all. Naruto's smile slinks into a teasing look, so Boruto shoves the man -n ot that it does much. "She's just a friend!" Boruto says defensively.

"Really?" Naruto grins.

"I'm not having this discussion, Dad."

"Just sayin', don't wait man," Naruto advises casually.

The two Uzumaki's walk together in silence down the long halls before Boruto finally breathes out. "I... sort of kissed Sarada," Boruto admits.

Naruto's face cracks. " _You what_." Naruto stops walking, and Boruto has to do a double take back to his dad. "R-Really?!"

"You asked!" Boruto argues back, all red again and completely regretting his decision to open up to his father.

"AgHGGGHH!" Naruto groans, holding his head with both hands in agony. "Sasuke and Sakura are gonna have my head for this." He looks back to his son with a crazed stare, slightly intimidating him. "So? What happened?!"

"We haven't had a chance to talk about it yet!" Boruto manages out, holding both hands up and stepping back. Really really regretting opening up to his dad. Now he's just running all information out his mouth and he can't stop. "I mean, I think I like her but, I don't think she likes me back. We've just been friends this summer, nothing else has really happened."

"Well did you tell her you like her?" Naruto interrogates, suddenly in front of the kid.

"N-No." Naruto wanted to rip his hair out. "Now isn't really the right time, Dad." Naruto couldn't help but agree. "After the ball or once things settle down maybe."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

By 2:00 Tsunade is putting the final touches on my dress. I'd stood on the pedestal as Tsunade's staff of women stitches and added tiny details to the dress. Every sequin, diamond; every stitch. Done by hand. The embroidery and the attention to detail as it flit like a glove over my body. This was truly the work of a master of their craft. Tsunade is amazing.

Once the dress was finished it was taken off and I was put back onto the chair. Kurenai put on my makeup. It was painless, almost soothing. She plucked my eyebrows and did my lashes, assuring me when she warned she'd be putting on fake lashes as well. They didn't turn out as bad as I thought. And then Tenten did my hair. Again, it's short. I still never think there's much you can do to it. However Tenten too was very skilled in what she did for a living. My face looked like it was wet and glowing. My hair not too overdone but elegant. It was me.

And then Shizune helped me into the dress once again. She helped me into my shoes - which by her recommendation were comfortable to stand in for hours on end. I believed her whole heartedly. She gave me a pendant to wear, did my nails a clear glossy coat, put a beautiful hair peace to the left of my hair. And she let me wear my glasses. Most make overs I get done for any of Sasuke's events prefer me to remove them, so I like that I can keep them on now.

When Tsunade shows me the final look on the pedestal surrounded by different angled mirrors, I'm amazed once again. Not to sound conceited or anything, but this was by far the best I've ever felt in regal wear. Not because it was the most expensive make over or anything, but I looked and felt like me. I felt beautiful for being me.

"Like it?" Tsunade asks behind me, her calm hands on my shoulder and her face close to my ear. She looked proud.

"I feel pretty," I smile, wanting to cry.

"You're amazing," Tsunade assures. "Whatever you end up doing, blue blood or not, you'll succeed no matter what." Hearing that from such a strong apparent woman like Tsunade hit me hard. I sniffled back a little and put on my proudest grin before giving her a nod. "Alright. You're free to go. The ball starts at six but guests will start arriving at four, so stay out of the ballroom and don't let anyone see you."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Abiding by Tsunade's request I stay on the second floor of the mansion. I end up picking a spot by a tall window on the side of the house at the end of a hallway. It's next to a small decorative table with a lamp and a vase of fresh flowers, with two fancy chairs beside it. careful not to mess up the ballgown I'm wearing, I pick up one of the chairs and set it beside the window. There's so much natural light here.

I sit for a long time, a small clutch at the bottom of my chair. It has my phone, and a pen and a notebook I'd fetched from my bedroom. With my end of the ball-prep done, I could get back to focusing on the real deal today: Sasuke's engagement and my mom.

 _I wonder if Mom will really show up_. I write various notes, many already crossed or ripped out of the lined notebook. In the event that my mom doesn't come to stop Sasuke's engagement announcement, then I'm going to be the one to do it. No matter what. I have nothing left to lose now. Pages upon pages in my tiny notebook are different bullet points on ways to sabotage the announcement. Electricity blow out? Getting rid of Kanna all together (like trapping her in a closet)? Flooding the basement with laundry detergent again and disrupting the ball? Hiring fake kidnappers to disrupt the party? That definitely threw the Gala for a loop last time.

Am I just insane now?

Amidst all the contemplation, Boruto is walking down the same hall. The taps of his fancy shoes echo down a little as he walks deep in thought. His appearance prep for the ball didn't take as much time as it did for the girls of the household. While walking around the mansion, also keeping out of sight from any potential early birds to the place, he doesn't realize at the end of the beautifully lit dead end hallway the graceful picture of a girl sitting in the sun.

"Sarada," Boruto says out loud, stopping in his walk. _What's she doing?_ He looks upon the girl who hasn't noticed him yet, sitting in the most beautiful gown he's seen yet, looking every bit the part of an Uchiha. At that moment of his adoration, Boruto remembers his dad's advice from not too long ago. Should he tell her his feelings now? This was the first (and perhaps last) opportunity alone to do so.

With determined thoughts Boruto steps forward to make himself known, but the closer he walks he notices the notebook and speedy handwriting. "What're you doing?" he asks antagonizingly instead.

That patronizing tone could only come from one person. I look up from my notes and see Boruto in the light. Even though I knew it was him, I wasn't expecting to be so impressed by his appearance. I'd seen Boruto in tons of fancy outfits, but this particular time I couldn't stop staring. And likewise, I could sense he felt the same when I looked up.

 _Does my make up look weird_? "H-Hi," I say instead, pushing some hair behind my ear on my right side. Despite all the self-love I felt earlier in front of the mirror, I suddenly feel very small and self conscious. "What, do I look weird?"

"No not at all," Boruto clears his throat, snapping out of it. I think he's going to say something else, but he stays quiet instead. I do too unintentionally, and it becomes awkward fast. "It's been crazy," he eventually says. "I know all this went down yesterday but it feels like it's been forever."

"Yeah right?" I agree easily. "Thanks for covering with me with Sasuke. I really needed that night with my mom."

"How was it?"

"It was nice," I smile, thinking of her while looking at my messy notebook. "We got to catch up on like, everything. Her work in Paris, all the designs she's been working on, my whole summer in this mess of a house. I told her about you and Shikadai and Inojin and Mitsuki."

"When you called yesterday," Boruto remembers, standing before my chair, "you said we have a week to break Sasuke and Kanna up?"

As much as I have in the forefront of my mind to talk about the kiss with Boruto, I know this is more important. I nod. "My mom planned on taking me home right after the ball tonight. We were going to drive to the airport but, I managed to persuade her to give me a week instead."

"How?" Boruto asks. "When I met her she seemed pretty set on getting out of here as fast as possible."

"Mm." I rub my neck, wondering how to put this. "On my way to the hotel yesterday, Sasuke picked me up from the mansion to have dinner with Kanna and her parents."

"I remember," he laughs.

I can't bring myself to. "Sasuke told me that he knew he was my dad." Hesitantly I look up to Boruto. How he looks must've been a clue to how I must've looked when Sasuke told me. "Not the whole time. Just recently. Itachi, Naruto and him had a talk."

 _So my dad was right_. "Naruto mentioned that," Boruto admits guiltily, "on our way to the hotel that morning. I wasn't sure when to tell you but I guess Sasuke beat me to it."

I shake my head, so confused. "Either way, I argued with my mom enough to give me a little more time so I could be with my dad. Not tonight anymore, but a week from today, I'm on a plane heading for home." I sigh out, feeling the pressure. "I _need_ to break them up. As much as I'd like my mom and dad to reconcile and be together, I can't leave with Sasuke marrying that _woman_ ," I shudder. "He'd be miserable."

"Is that what all this is?" Boruto asks, looking at the notebook in my hands again. I give it to him, and I can already see his judgmental thoughts coming through his face as he reads. "'Flooding the basement' really?"

"Clearly I'm desperate," I exasperate. "I thought my mom would be the romantic type to come to the ball and dramatically proclaim her love to Sasuke and stop the engagement announcement, but I'm beginning to think she won't. In that case, it's up to me to stop it. Or at least postpone it." I bite my lip. "Is it too crazy? Am I being silly?"

Boruto flips a page or two in the notebook. "The blackout idea isn't too bad," he eventually replies.

"Really."

He nods, overlooking my notes. "I know the entirety of the mansion's electricity wiring. What leads to what and what powers where." He gives my notebook back to me. "With the other guys' help we can cause a mansion-wide power outage at the snap of a button easy - If I start setting up now anyway."

 _He's insane_. "You're not joking."

He shakes his head innocently. "Nope."

"You're really smart you know that?" I say seriously. "Probably smarter than the others combined. And Mitsuki and Shikadai are like geniuses." He laughs a little. "How well do you do on testing at school?"

"I've had a 4.0 since the first grade," Boruto answers. "And none of that is from money. The academy the guys and I go to is pretty intense."

I shake my head, not believing it. "You certainly don't act like a straight A-student here."

Boruto shrugs. "There's more to life than perfect scores, you know."

"Well yeah I know that." I look up at him from my chair straight in the eye. "You're a genius who just plays dumb. I'm surprised you're not moved up a grade or graduating high school already or something."

"I know being really smart isn't going to get me far in the business my dad and Sasuke partake in because of how I'm judged from being my father's son. You've seen how my aunts and uncles on my mom's side treat us."

"That's not fair," I frown.

"I could succeed in anything I wanted if I tried," Boruto states. "Knowing how limited I am anyway, I just don't have any intentions or expectations of running big money when I grow up. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do for a while actually. If I wanted to run a big company like Sasuke I could, but it's not my dream."

"What do you want to do then? When you grow up?" I ask curiously. "Do you have a dream?"

"No, I don't," Boruto answers. "Or I didn't. But after meeting you? I realized I want to travel. Understand the world outside being a sheltered rich kid. That's my dream," he nods with that Uzumaki grin. "It's cool knowing what I want to do now. You just have that way of making people think I guess. And that's just one of the tings I like about you." _Crap what did I just say?_

One of the things... he likes about me...?

Realizing what he just said I blush a little, blinking at him. He turns red in the cheeks as well, and that familiar hard chest-thumping sensation returns. I clutch my notebook and look down, kind of smiling.

"We um, better contact the guys and set up the black-out back up," Boruto reminds, bringing us back to the earlier conversation. "In case your mom doesn't show up."

"Right," I nod, taking a deep breath. I stand from the chair, now eye level with Boruto. "Just tell me what to do and I'll help."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

It's later in the afternoon. Back at the hotel downtown Sakura is at the lobby computer for guest use. They are decently up to date desktops, and Sakura's been busy online trying to get her bank money back in place with the one card she has in Japan. All the while she's on her cell phone talking to Karin.

"I can't believe you flew to Japan, found my daughter and flew back without her," Sakura lectures, more annoyed than pissed. She's typing fast into the keyboard while switching her phone to another shoulder held by her cheek. Instead of her sleepwear or her one fancy flying outfit, she's wearing her sweats and hotel slippers. "Do you have any idea how insane that sounds?"

" _I said I'm sorry! How many times do I have to say it_!" Karin argues over the line. " _Besides you know me. I wouldn't have left her there and not told you everything if I didn't think it was for a valid reason_."

"Oh so there was a valid reason," Sakura scoffs, finding it an amusing possibility.

" _The kid wanted to get to know her father. Come on_ ," Karin argues. " _And you! How the hell could you not tell me or the guys you're the baby mama of a freaking UCHIHA. Like, SAKURA WHAT THE HELL_?"

Sakura had to hold her phone away from her ear and pause in her bank work. "That was a different point in my life. And don't change the subject."

" _Look I brought Jugo and Suigetsu with me over there. We found her, and that dude Naruto you talked to talked to us too_ ," Karin informs. " _You want someone to blame, blame him. He's an idiot but a persuasive one_."

"Naruto you said?"

" _I've helped you raise Sarada since she was in diapers, Haruno. Would I really leave the kid with a dude who I didn't trust with her well being_?" Karin argues. " _He said him and Sasuke were taking care of her. Hell they proved it. The guy sent me to jail thinking I was kidnapping Sarada_."

Sakura almost laughs. "Karin you went to jail?"

" _Shut it_ ," Karin warns. " _Can we just let bygones be bygones? You had Sarada over last night didn't you? She's good_."

"She is good," Sakura admits, recalling our first night together in weeks. "Fine. You're forgiven." A new window pops up on the computer, showing Sakura her card's been re-approved for future charges in Japan. She sighs in relief.

" _So, what about that big Uchiha Ball you mentioned earlier_?" Karin brings back up.

"You mean his engagement party?" Sakura rewords, sitting back in her computer bar stool. "No way."

" _Girl go get your man_!"

"I'm not going," Sakura laughs, logging off the computer and heading back up to her suite room.

" _Sakura. You've pulled of the independent single mom act pretty well. You're at the top of your industry and career. You have nothing left to prove_ ," Karin rushes. Sakura upstairs enters her room, coming face to face again with the giant ballgown Naruto left her, hanging on the hotel luggage rack by the window. She hadn't had the heart to get rid of it all day. " _Sarada's right girl this could be TRUE LOVE_."

"He's engaged."

" _To a BITCH,_ " Karin mouths off, causing Sakura to slant smile. She was never too foul mouthed, so she admired Karin's non-filtered vocabulary and lack of care for others' opinions on it. However arguing can be heard in the background of the phone call, and Sakura waits for it to resolve.

" _Sakura_?" Suigetsu's voice comes on instead.

"Suigestu hey," Sakura says.

 _"Just go to the fucking ball so Karin can shut the hell up. In case you aren't aware it's 3am over here and some people are trying to catch up on their beauty sleep_."

"Sorry about that," Sakura chuckles, sitting on the end of her bed. "It's good to hear from you guys though. I'm glad you're doing okay."

" _Yeah yeah cut the crap we all know we're good. Go_ ," Suigetsu reminds, rounding back to his point. " _I know you've kept that photo of Uchiha in your dresser all these years_."

"Hey-"

" _If you walk away from this now you're gonna regret i_ t," Suigetsu points out. Sakura can already imagine his body language for his common-sense advice. She glances one more time at the dress Naruto gave her. " _I overheard Karin say that Uzumaki dude gave you a dress and some neat kicks. The hell with it go. Can you really live the rest of yours and Sarada's lives having never talked with Uchiha? Walking away from him forever_?"

Sakura's breathing had slowed to a stubborn pace. She had goosebumps. This was going to be a life-altering decision: leaving this hotel or staying. There's more fighting on the line as Karin and Suigetsu seemingly get into an altercation for the phone again.

Ignoring the noise, Sakura leaves her phone on the bed and walks up thoughtfully to the window where Naruto's dress is. " _Sakura_?" Karin's voice comes from the phone. " _Sakura? Sakura you there_?"

Unknown to them, Sakura was stripping and tossing her slippers across the room as she rushes to fit into the dress and prep her face for any amount of makeup she managed to keep in her duffel bag. Her shadow from the sun at the window jumps around as she struggles to put on the perfectly-sized shoes that came in the fancy box and the expensive cold jewelry personally picked out just for her.

She was going to the ball.

 _x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x_

The announcing of the family and my title as Sasuke's 'protege' begins at 6 o'clock. The engagement announcement is at 7 o'clock sharp. The gates to the mansion open at 4. This was all info from Naruto and the event coordinator/instructor.

It had been a hectic evening, getting ready before the guests were coming in. Even as they were, and Boruto and I had to remain hidden until our announcing - Mitsuki, Inojin and Shikadai had gotten the texts from Boruto and came as soon as they were ready. Suited up once more, they were allowed access to the rest of the Uchiha Mansion to 'hang out with us until the ball began'.

Unknown to the adults and the help of the house (which was tripled for tonight's event), we've been busy sneaking around the mansion preparing for the 7 o'clock electricity blow out. According to Boruto, it would cut all lights and power within the mansion and a good portion of the block as well. A little extreme in my opinion. And probably illegal. But it was either all the way or no way he said. I had no problem with that.

Various rooms and power boxes throughout the mansion were visited by our group. Inojin and Mitsuki had snuck a couple tools a their disposal in their homes to help out, while Shikadai and Boruto worked on rewiring one of their gaming devices into a wireless remote that would blast the power at the push of a button. How? I have no idea. I'm no genius, but I trusted their process. Besides, it was too late to turn back now.

"We're gonna be in so much trouble," Boruto murmurs out loud, working at his desk in his room with Shikadai. The back of their handheld game was open, revealing microchips and little wires they were tinkering with.

I meanwhile was sitting on the bed (unable to sit anywhere else because of the size of my dress) with Mitsuki, and Inojin in the beanbag chair. My stomach felt queasy. I've never been this nervous - even during that whole hostage situation at the gala. Mitsuki looks over at my twiddling thumbs. "You are anxious," Mitsuki states, the only way he can.

"Yes," I admit uselessly. "I am."

"If this insane plan works then you'll have nothing to worry about," Shikadai says form the table. Boruto's desk table is usually against the wall, but they'd moved it to the center of Boruto's bedroom for more room to move around. His room was a mess of tools and wires and papers as of the last hour and a half. "When I read your text asking for this stuff I almost didn't believe you."

"Are you guys almost done?" Inojin asks, leaning back.

"Yeah," Boruto nods, heavily focused. "They'll be starting the family procession in a bit so we'll have to head out soon before the adults notice the five of us are missing."

"Now that my dad and Naruto know the whole situation if they realize we're gone they'll get suspicious," I add.

"So they know everything?" Inojin turns.

"The only one out of the loop is Sasuke about my mom," I repeat. "He doesn't know she's in the country."

"Or that she might come to the ball," Boruto adds.

"She's not coming," I frown, not getting my hopes up.

Mitsuki's phone alarm goes off, signaling for us to start heading down. Shikadai and Boruto stand up straighter, revealing their remote complete. "Here," Shikadai says, handing it to me. It's a double screen handheld, so it's folded shut right now and all the buttons inside are unpressable at the moment. "Press the X button and all the power will shut off," Shikadai instructs, caution written all over his face. I take it from it. _"All_ the power. Please be careful please."

"Always am," I reply, putting it into my gown pocket. I love that Tsunade added them.

The gang of us proceed out of Boruto's bedroom, and the other guys make our their down a side staircase to help seamlessly blend into the ballroom crowd. Boruto and I remain behind and go to meet our parents at the top of the main staircase, where our instructor had us agree to meet for the processions.

If I peak around the corner of the hall, I can see down below. I've never seen this many people in our ballroom before. A good amount of the adults I recognize from my outings with Sasuke to his events. It's still a little nerve wrecking.

"Sarada you look fantastic," Hinata commends, coming over and looking at me. She looks beautiful as well. The true matriarch of the Uchiha mansion. Counteractively I can see Kanna over by the wall with my dad and Itachi. She's dressed in a black mermaid gown, showing off a ton of cleavage. Really?

"Everyone ready?" the old man from early proceeds. We all give our nods and the two footmen on either side of the top of the staircase bang their long batons on the floor. It echoes throughout the ballroom, and the lights dim and the spotlights focus to the top of the staircase.

I sink back in the shadows, suddenly recalling a time in elementary school when I had my first play. The lights darkened and the single spotlight shone on stage similar to this. It was my cue to go out and read an except from this fairy tale book, and I totally chocked and held up the play a good fifteen minutes.

"Hey," Sasuke whispers, suddenly behind me with a comforting hand behind my back. "You'll be fine."

I smile, remembering my mom was out in the audience with the other parents as a kid. I knew she'd be comforting me if she were backstage with me and the kids. And now here, being encouraged by my dad, I feel totally at easy. I hold his hand on my shoulder, and our fingers intertwine affectionately.

The music begins, and the instructor ques for Hinata and Naruto to head out. Arm in arm the couple walks out as applause erupts from the public. Shortly after, Kanna reluctantly takes Itachi's arm and walks out with him. I snicker a little at Itachi's bemused smile. He was totally enjoying Kanna's misery at not walking out with Sasuke.

"You and Boruto will enter out on both sides of Sasuke," the old man whispers. I take my position at his right and Boruto at his left. "Go on..!"

With that, we walk out standing straight, with the poise of royalty. Applause comes about again, and I can see everyone below the stairs. I remember my first ball in the Uchiha mansion and how much of a mess I was, versus now. Sai's advice from the gala comes around again, and I look across the room with a dignity and pride of an Uchiha. Sasuke isn't just announcing me his protegee. He's announcing that's he's taken me under his wing. I am Sarada Uchiha.

To Boruto's left are his parents. To my right are Itachi and Kanna. Sasuke stands in the center in between Boruto and I as we face our guests.

"Welcome," Sasuke begins, silence resuming. "I thank you all for coming. It truly is a pleasure to have the highest of blue bloods under one roof again. My family and I are proud to host such an event. At that-" He extends his arm as rehearsed, and I take two steps forward into Sasuke's spotlight. "It's with great pleasure that after two and a half months, I present the protegee I have been schooling. Her stay under my watch has produced not just another member to our noble ranks, but a true debutante. A kind soul," Sasuke pauses, as I try to keep face. _I didn't know he was going to say all this_. "A true blessing to the Uchiha household. Someone I'd be proud to call my own daughter." _Oh my god I'm going to cry_. "Presenting my protegee Sarada Haruno of the United States."

The applause is deafening. It's not just from Sasuke's speech. A good portion of these people genuinely know me. Know _of_ me even. I didn't realize how popular I've become among the rich of Japan. While processing all that, I'm also realizing this is the first time Sasuke's said my last name. My mom's last name. _Is he even aware my mom added his last name to my birth certificate?_

Once the cheers die down, Naruto and Hinata proceed down the staircase to the center clearing of the ballroom. They join the crowd sidelines, followed by Itachi and Kanna doing the same. I stand still as I was instructed until Boruto comes up to me and offers his hand - as Naruto and Itachi had as escorts. Boruto smiles at me as I anxiously take his hand, and he escorts me down the stairs. Sasuke follows shortly behind.

I hold Boruto's hand a little tighter than I should. My other hand holds the hem of my gown as I carefully make my way down the stairs. Boruto stays at my pace, which I appreciate. Walking down stairs looking straight not able to see your feet remains the most terrifying rich-people experience ever. As I'm going down though, I scan the room for my mother. I feel a little disappointed she isn't here - partially because she's missing me doing all this craziness right now.

Boruto politely hands my hand to Sasuke, and as we were told the orchestra changes the song. The spotlight changes to something lighter, warmer. The light and the flowers illuminate the ballroom into something magical as Sasuke- no, my father- takes me into a dancing stance. He holds one of my hands out and another on my shoulder. My hand not holding his rests on his arm as I look up admiring him.

This is my very first father-daughter dance.

We waltz, and I can't keep back my smile as I relish this moment. Despite the onlookers, to me it's just the two of us. I never knew I wanted this so much until now. "You're glowing," Sasuke compliments, looking down at me.

"Thank you for the best summer ever," I say first, wanting to before I forget. Sasuke looks genuinely taken aback. I wanna cry or grin like an idiot, but I need him to know I mean everything I'm saying. "I can't imagine not having you around when I go back home. I'll... I'll miss you."

He holds me closer as we dance together. His breathing is unsteady too. "I'll miss you too, kid," he says, low enough for me to hear. "You have no idea how much you've done for me. This was the most amusing summer I've had too."

I laugh, chocking back some tears behind my glasses. I look up higher at him. "I've dreamed of this you know," I mention. "When I was in the third grade, there was a school fundraiser, and all the girls in my class got to have a father-daughter dance in the gym." Sasuke looks down at me sympathetically. "I stayed on the sidelines in the bleachers by myself. My mom was away at a conference that day so I didn't even have her. I still wanted to dance with you though, even if I didn't know you yet."

Sasuke frowns a genuine frown. "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you."

"It's not your fault," I forgive. "You coming out and telling me you're my father? That's definitely being there for me."

He shakes his head, smiling. "You deserve so much better."

"You do too, Sasuke."

I've heard the waltz song at least three times when practicing with Boruto earlier this afternoon, so I can tell it's coming to an end. This dance I've dreamed of - more than my wedding day - is going to end. I pull myself into something of a hug as Sasuke and I sway out the rest of our dance. " _I love you, Dad_ ," I say against his suit.

His heartbeat is as unsteady as his breathing, and I feel the warmest hug Sasuke's ever given me. We're still unconsciously swaying until the end of our song, and the clapping amidst the crowd signals the end of our dance.

"That was great," Naruto says, walking up with Hinata. I can see Boruto and the guys in the background, respectfully keeping their distance.

I let go of Sasuke and we retain our composure once more. "I'm gonna have to borrow Sasuke," Kanna says, taking his arm. "Why don't you go scurry off with your friends while the adults do some business talk?" _Why don't you stuff those silicone stuff-ins back into your dress they're practically showing?_

Biting my tongue and keeping a smug smile, I bow out and walk over to the guys as the parents walk away to mingle. I'm sure I'll have to join them soon enough too. "That was really nice," Inojin commends, giving me a pat on the arm.

"And I took a pic," Shikadai adds, handing me his phone. I look at it and see a picture of me and Sasuke in the most perfect lighting, looking right at each other in our dance. "Oh my god," I smile, eyes wide. "Please send that to me!"

"Of course," he laughs, taking his phone back. "You still have the handheld?"

"Yup," I say, patting the side of my dress.

"Why don't you come mingle with our kind for a little bit," Inojin suggests. "Blue blood kids. There's a couple more here at your ball than the average event."

I go along with my little 'entourage' as Inojin puts it and meet a couple other kids of the rich, most if not all already knowing the guys' in some way. They're more popular as a group than I thought.

"Boruto?"

Me and the guys turn around, coming face to face with a fair-skinned girl with long luscious purple hair braided behind her headband. She too is in a gown that matches her hair color. "Sumire!" Boruto brightens as the group and me walk towards her. The guys have introduced me to other kids before but they're much more enthusiastic this time around. They all take their turns hugging her, which they haven't done with anyone else here yet.

After hugging the last of them she sees me and bows her head. "Hi! I'm Sumire, it's so nice to meet you Sarada. I can't believe I'm really meeting you; you're like a celebrity."

"Ah, don't say that," I respond sheepishly.

"What've you been up to this summer? It's been a while!" Boruto says enthusiastically.

I stand awkwardly in the back of the group as Boruto Inojin and Mitsuki surround her, catching up on old times. I feel a little weird and out of place, watching on.

"Sarada and I are gonna go grab some drinks," Shikadai says suddenly next to me.

"No problem!" Inojin says.

Shikadai politely offers his arm, and hesitantly take that as my que to hook on and walk away with him. We walk a little further away to a server holding a tray of alcohol-free drinks, to which he offers us and we take. "She's a classmate of ours," Shikadai keys in, sipping his juice.

"Oh," I say, looking back in their direction. They appear to be laughing about something. "That explains it."

"She's pretty cool," Shikadai gives. He's been whispering little bios of each kid I've met at the ball all night. Sumire is no exception. "Class president. Good people person. She's pretty chill for the daughter of the biggest brewery in Japan." No way. "Her family has been looking at Boruto as a potential for an arranged marriage with her actually, but arrangements were never made with Naruto yet."

"What?" I react too fast. Shikadai's expression seems to look a little regretful for telling me, and I bite my lip. I'm being too obvious how concerned I am.

"It most likely won't happen," Shikadai assures. "Her family's pretty pushy, but Naruto isn't one to succumb to the customs of the rich and marry off his son."

"He sold his daughter out to the Hyuugas at a prison boarding school," I point out. He frowns, and we look on at our friends catching up with this super pretty and charismatic girl. What's worse is I can't find anything to dislike about her. She's sweet.

"Shikadai, Sarada." We look up and see a familiar face. It's his uncle, Gaara, and another boy beside him.

"Uncle," Shikadai greets, bowing his head.

"I'm so happy you could make it," I smile, greeting him politely. I really was happy to see him here.

"It's been some time," Gaara notes. "I see things have been progressing well for you. I'm quite proud." I'm not too sure what he's referring too, but I know not to underestimate his knowledge. I smile in thanks anyway.

"Ah," Shikadai remembers, referring to the boy beside his uncle. "This is my cousin Shinki. He's Gaara's adopted son."

"Nice to meet you," I say instantly, shaking his head.

He holds it a little longer and kisses it politely. "It's nice to finally meet you, Miss Sarada," he says with a similar serious expression to Sasuke. "I've heard a lot of stories from my father about you and your amazing mother."

A blush creeps on. He knows-knows? I look at Gaara, and back at Shinki. "H-How flattering," I grin shyly. "I'm not all that, really."

"No, you're definitely something," Shinki chuckles. "Bombarding your way to the front of first class. Not every commoner's that incredible."

Shikadai watches warily our interactions before he gets called over by Sumire. It seems they've finally noticed their extended disappearance. "Would you excuse me," he says.

"Allow me to keep her company," Shinki offers.

"Yeah," Shikadai says with a look before finally going off. He does one more look back, watching his Uncle excuse himself as well, leaving me and his cousin alone.

When Garra disappears, getting called away by other adults, I end up watching Shikadai return to our friends as Sumire catches up with the Nara as well. I'll admit, I do feel a little left out, but maybe it's best I stay back here instead of awkwardly standing nearby.

"She's a popular one," Shinki notes beside me. "It's hard not to like her."

"You know her as well?"

"I'm class rep of another homeroom. We work together every now and then," Shinki replies. Ah, I see. "You however I'm more intrigued by. Those guys are dolts for leaving you alone. Not every kid around here is as earnest as us."

"What do you mean?"

Shinki points, and I follow his finger and look across the ballroom. Somehow my eyes automatically connect with this dude's, sipping a glass. He notices my stare and smirks before looking away. "That guy? He's the son of a big contractor in the shopping district. Also a total dochebag." I'm a little taken aback by his loose language. Besides the guys I haven't met anyone yet tonight who speaks as casually as we do behind closed doors. "The guy's been eyeing you all night like food. The second you're alone I swear he would've asked you to dance and it'd be over."

"Ah." Looking at him now, I can see him staring down an older woman's ass. Oh gross. The disgust is evident on my face and Shinki laughs. "What a creep."

"Hopefully you don't think I'm one for sticking by," Shinki adds. "But word down my family's grapevine is that you're a commoner from New York. My father advised me you'd be a little different getting to know and to not treat you with that fake decorum we're taught to have."

Ha. That's rather nice of Gaara. Subtle. "You're pretty different too," I say with an amused arched brow. "Shikadai said you were adopted?"

"Taken 'under a wing' like you? Yeah," he confirms. Besides the adopted part of course. "I'm from Italy. My dad met me there as a little kid while doing some work out there, so I know a thing or two about how normal people function."

"That makes two of us," I laugh, finding comfort in a fellow 'commoner', even if he has grown up financially comfortable out here in Japan.

"Blue bloods though think all high and mighty to parents who adopt, but they don't really praise the kid-adoptees," Shinki explains as we watch the party-goers. "Boruto's a guy who can relate, whose dad was born a commoner. That's why I respect you for everything you've been doing."

"And what exactly have I been doing?"

"A little sneaking around here and there," Shinki answers vaguely. "Some running away, a bit of sleuthing and delinquinizing the top four marks of the academy." He must be referring to my friends. He must be implying he knows. "I hope everything works out for you, Sarada," he whispers.

"Thanks, Shinki," I smile. I appreciate being able to talk to someone about this that isn't the guys.

Interrupting our talk, my phone inside my gown pocket buzzes. The tulle is so thick I can barely feel the vibration from the phone. I pull it out and see a text from the guys in a group chat.

Apparently there's a small problem with the wiring in one of the second floor closets. If it isn't fixed then the remote won't work. They're all to preoccupied to go all together, the text says from Mitsuki.

 _I know which closet it is. I knew we messed up on that one_. I text in that I know which closet it is, but I don't really know how to fix it. Boruto texts back that he does and says he and I will sneak away from the party while the guys stay to keep suspicions at a low. "Great," I sigh, not sure if I want to go and be alone with Boruto again right now.

"Everything okay?"

"Can you do me a favor?" I ask Shinki. "If anyone asks, I'm still around okay? I just have to go take care of something."

"No problem," he nods. There's something in his eye that makes me feel like he can read my mind. As if he knows I'm running off to do this big forbidden thing. I shoot a trusting smile and gather my dress and run off. Soon after I get another text from Boruto saying to meet in the side stairwell going up to the second floor, and that's exactly where I go.

In the side staircase I run into Boruto, and we both rush up before anyone can notice us leave. At the safety of the second floor which should be empty, we stop to catch our breaths. "So," Boruto pants. "You know where the box is Mitsuki was talking about?"

"Yeah it's the fourth closet around the corner," I pant, pointing my arm steadily. "You guys were tinkering with it a little earlier and before I closed the door I saw it spark a little."

"That must be why. It's that damn small closet where the box is so high I couldn't reach," Boruto curses. "Alright let's make this quick before someone sees us."

"Right."

Holding my dress again we run down, then around the corner. I take the lead and slow down in front of a tall closed door. It's a rather old storage closet. More like a tiny pantry. Barely enough room to fit one person, much less supplies. However there was one power box in there responsible for a good portion of the mansion.

Boruto pulls out some small tools from his jacket pocket but I hear something down the hall. "Someone is coming," I whisper.

"Shit," Boruto curses, stuffing his tool back in his jacket. We could see their shadow coming around the corner. Without thinking, he pushes me into the tiny pantry closet with himself and shuts the door. It's extremely cramped. Smaller than a bathroom stall, and rather uncomfortable because of the uneven shelving from the floor up. I'm leaning against the back with my elbows supported on a shelf. And Boruto is awkwardly pressed in front of me, one arm extended to the wall to keep him steady and his other hand on my shoulder to keep from leaning right on me.

Our faces are one inch a part.

Too close.

Oh my god too close.

Boruto can see me about to panic and his hand comes to my mouth to cover it. "Shh," he begs urgently. Suddenly the voices and footsteps appear right outside the door. It wasn't just one person It was a handful - probably the house help. They seem to be conversing - something about supplies or more food for the party. But they don't seem to be leaving _the spot outside the closet_ any time soon. God why?

After a minute Boruto's hand leaves my mouth, but we still have to wait as the voices outside were still there. He seems to be looking anywhere but at me and I don't blame him. I'm doing the same thing.

Kinda hard to do though when our faces are three inches apart.

"How hard is it to organize finding food trays?" Boruto mutters, eavesdropping faintly on their conversation. He looks back to me slightly. "Sorry for this being such a tight space."

"No it's okay," I assure, not wanting him to feel guilty. "I needed a break from downstairs. Could be better circumstances but his is nice."

My trying smile persuades him I'm not making this up, and he smiles back comfortably, taking away the awkward tension in this claustrophobic space. "Sorry I disappeared for a while down there," he eventually mentions after some more waiting. "We were catching up with a friend. She left school early for a family vacation so it's been a while."

"You don't have to apologize. I don't need a babysitter twenty-four seven," I say, but there's a slight twitch in my mouth as I think about that perfect girl.

"What, jealous?" Boruto jokes. He almost expect me to laugh back, but my face warms a little in shy admittance. His goofy grin fades a sinch.

"A little," I admit, looking to the side. My instinct was to say no, but something in my told me to be honest. I don't hear him saying anything and I wonder if that was a mistake.

"S-She's just a classmate," Boruto begins to explain, flustered himself now. "And a long time family friend, but that's all. Honest." There's this not defensive, soothing way he's saying it, that makes my chest swell even more. "So um, I saw you talking with Shikadai's cousin."

"Shinki," I remember. "He's nice."

"Yeah he's a good guy," Boruto agrees. "He and I get along pretty well. We used to play as kids at school." I can feel the heat of our breathing since we're so close. It's hard not to talk though. It's the only thing keep this not awkward, until the coast is clear outside. "To be honest, I felt a little jealous he got to have some alone with you during the ball," he whispers near my ear while I'm looking away. D-Did he just say that? "Again, could be better, but I'm happy I at least have this moment alone with you right now. Between planning sabotaging the mansion and mingling downstairs, I haven't been able to catch a break. I can only imagine how it is for you."

"Y-Yeah," I manage to say. What _can_ I say? What the hell are we even talking about? Do I really want to think about this right now? On probably the most important night of my life? Boruto's hand loses stability a little and he falls a bit over me. I catch up and push him up a little. "You okay? Sorry we're so close."

"Not your fault," Boruto groans, looking up over my head. The electricity box is right there for him. "I know it's cramped but lemme work on the box. The longer we wait the more likely the grown ups will find out we've gone."

"Alright," I say, bracing myself for possibly more awkward physical tension. At least he asked.

"Sorry in advance." Boruto leans more forward, if that's even possible. His arms, no longer supporting him, reach up to open the power box. As a result he's leaning purely on me. His chin rests on my shoulder near my neck as he struggles to be tall enough to do what he needs to do. Ideal we'd switch places, but it's just so cramped we can barely move. I hold my breath and pray he can't feel how fast my heart is pumping.

 _God I hope she can't feel how fast my heart is beating,_ Boruto thinks. He tiptoes, ignoring the fact he's completely lying his whole weight on me to get to this box.

I can hear tinkering behind me, and little buzzes of electricity going on. It's super close to my head, so I wince every now and then when I hear a buzz.

"Pull your hear towards my shoulder so you're not so close to the box," Boruto says, so close to my ear not on purpose. "So you don't get electrocuted."

"A-Are you sure?"

"Yeah just put up with it a little longer. I'm almost done," Boruto says apologetically, trying to remain focused. I do as he says and lean into him, resting my chin as far onto his shoulder as I can. I end up hugging him with one of my free arms so I don't slip. This whole gown taking up all this closet space is going to be the death of me. "Almost..." The tinkering sounds continue as the buzzing comes up every now and them from the box. Suddenly out of no where I hear a loud spark and Boruto muffles a groan into my shoulder.

"Boruto?" I panic quietly, not able to see him. "What happened?"

"Agh," he winces, and I feel his weight lift a little off me so I do the same. We back up (not too much) and he pulls his hand back to see it between us. There's a little burn mark in the middle of his palm after he unclenches it. Immediately I hold his hand in both of mine to apply pressure.

"Oh my god," I whisper, looking at it and him and back and forth.

"It's okay, just got electrocuted a little," Boruto whispers back. I massage his hand to try and make the immediate pain subside, a little panic-stricken. "Hey hey I'm good. It's fine," he reassures, using his other hand to brush one of mine off, and this leaves his burnt hand and one of mine together, close to latching.

Boruto and I look up at one another, back to our normal three-inch close distance. His hands and mine are warm, and he doesn't seem to be pulling his hand away. Mine's a bit shaky, but I don't quite want to retract my hand either. I rest it a little into his as they sink to our sides, and somehow our fingers find their way to entangle loosely together at the side of my dress.

He never breaks gaze with me somehow. I blink behind my glasses, trying to figure this out. If there's anything to figure out. My uneven breathing. My sweaty palms. Boruto's scent and little face twitches. His thumb, rubbing along the side of my hand.

In an attempt to look away from his ever blue eyes I glance down a little, at his lips. Not wanting to look at them either I look back at his eyes. He does the same.

We seem to repeat this reluctant pattern as his breath comes closer. And I tilt my head slightly.

Our noses are getting too close they might bump.

My eyes are closing.

Our loose fingers finally clasp together into a holding grasp, with his thumb still grazing my skin in circles. At the same time our lips meet.

It's... soft. And, warm. So, so soft. I've never kissed anyone before, and I definitly never pictured it happening in a closet like some dirty secret. But nothing about this second felt dirty. Just... innocent. Our lips come apart slightly, but before I can fully open my eyes they close again and we lean in together again. It's another tiny kiss, and they repeat two or five more times. I can't remember. But the only think processing through my head is that Boruto's lips are so moist, and timid. Whenever he kisses me back, I feel a shot of butterflies barrel inside me. But, I want to do this.

Slowly Boruto pulls back, and I can feel cool air over my lips that I open my eyes. I forget how close our faces are that I wince a little. He's just as shocked as I am I think, and our hands are still held together, his burn mark settled in between our palms. _Did we, just...?_ There's every single butterfly in the world fluttering in my stomach right now, and for every butterfly a bazillion questions. Because of that, a tiny smile twitches at the end of my mouth. Boruto does too slightly, as much as we try not to.

I just had, my first real kiss with _Boruto_.

Before I can register what's happening, white light fills my vision as the sound of the door swings open. I wince before I force myself to see who's caught us. Boruto also whips his head back as we adjust to the light. And standing at the door is Mitsuki, Shikadai and Inojin, all wide eyed and mouths agape.

 _Ohooo my god_. "H-Hey!" Boruto starts to panic, "It's not what it looks like-!" The door shuts back closed, and the two of us take a second to realize what's just happened. Did they just close the door back on us?

The door slams open again (this time Boruto's doing) and Boruto shoves himself out of the closet, followed by me. The guys stand still in shock a few steps back, all with their own bewildered reactions. Shikadai looks petrified, Mitsuki dumbfounded, and Inojin disgusted. "We don't speak of this," Boruto warns each of them, holding a pointing finger up.

"W-We thought we should look for you guys," Inojin stutters, not sure what to say. But looking at all their faces they definitely had shit to say.

"Okay we're going back down now," I interrupt, starting to push them all down the hall. Boruto also joins in as this becomes a large vocal argument about a ton of different things.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Back down in the ballroom, I proceed to start my dances witch virtually _every_ male bachelor between the ages of ten to twenty-five. It was enough to keep me occupied, and unfortunately I had left Boruto to the mercy of Shikadai, Mitsuki and Inojin to answer whatever they just saw. Sorry Boruto.

The dances were overall pleasant. Some weirdos here and there, but luckily a waltz with someone I didn't like didn't last too long. Maybe a minute or two.

Scratch that. Now I'm dancing with Kanna's son Izumi. Of course he's here. When we waltz however, I make sure to make my distaste and disdain for him obvious. My glare never ceased during our dance. "Come on Sarada lighten up. We've put that stuff that happened during the gala behind us right?"

"I should've let you get kidnapped by yourself," I pout, very annoyed with this situation here. "And why's your mom so-" I glance to the side, seeing her talking it up while latched onto Sasuke. "S-So..."

"Desperate?" Izumi frowns, not even hesitating. "Believe me. I live with her. She's a lot to handle."

"Well take her back. We don't want her either."

He rolls his eyes. "Believe you me I'm against this marriage just as much as you are. Having the riches of the Uchiha name sure, but living here with you and that blonde mess? Euck, I'd rather date a commoner than associate familial ties with you people."

"What a nice way of putting it," I say flatly. At least he's on our side. Sort of.

And just like how all my unpleasant dances end- "Hi," Boruto cuts in. "May I?"-someone else comes to put an end to it.

Boruto glaces imploringly at Izumi before he drops my arm and lets go of my waist. Izumi walks off as Boruto slides in to take his place seamlessly. It's been a good while since I've seen Boruto, but I can't help the awkwardness that comes out in me again. "I-" I lick my lips, suddenly like a robot. "About what happened earlier."

"Let's just enjoy the dance," Boruto suggests softly. I swallow all my words after that. "And for the record I cut in to save you from that idiot, not to be weird or anything."

"No, I'm glad," I reassure, making him blush a little. I can see Sasuke in the background, watching us while he talks to these suits.

We dance in silence together among other couples waltzing to this romantic instrumental. I've waltzed with Boruto dozens of times over the summer, but this feels different. Good different. Special different.

I can't stop thinking about what happened in the closet. I know for sure that was a spur of the moment thing. Oh god and I kissed him too. He definitely thinks I'm a creep. I could've totally made the effort to move around so we wouldn't have been so awkwardly pressed like that.

And my breath. God did it stink? I can't tell. I brushed my teeth at like five in the morning. I'm sure that mint smell is completely gone by now.

Knowing the guys they probably grilled the hell out of him. Knowing Boruto he wrote it off as a spur of the moment thing. I mean two teens stuck in a closet? What else is a guy going to do? Of course it happened. Hormones and stuff like that. He doesn't feel that way about me. We're friends.

And now he's about to bring it up and gently let me down before I even get the chance to figure out how I feel about the whole situation. Why? Because Boruto's a nice guy who's not the type to lead a girl on. He'll shut me down fast enough before I can get ideas in my head. I've never told a guy I liked him before, so in turn I've never really gotten rejected either. Chouchou has before, and I've comforted her with far too many ice-cream tub Sundays to be unfamiliar with how terrible rejection must feel - even from someone you never had intentions with.

Oh god this is going to suck really bad. I'm going to lose my dad, _and_ my cool relationship with probably the best guy friend I've ever made-

"Sarada I have feelings for you."

I look up blinking. He's... not joking. His face is completely stern and serious. Nervous as hell but serious, and I'm brought back down to earth in our waltz. It takes everything in me to not lose my footing and trip over my dress or his feet. "Wh-"

"Let me finish," Boruto insists. He hesitates before letting out a breath. I'm so tense."About what happened earlier in the closet, I'm sorry if I was too forward. I don't want that hanging over us for the rest of your time here so, I just wanted to tell you. How I feel." He's trying. I can see how hard it is for him. "You don't have to give me an answer right now. Do it after we fix things between Sasuke and your mom. Okay?"

 _Boruto... likes me?_ "But what if it doesn't work out between them?"

"Just stay focused," he persists, holding me more sternly. "I don't want to distract you. I know it's too late for that but," he clears his throat. "Just... think about it, so you're sure of what you think. I'm sorry for being selfish and dropping a bomb like this on you so suddenly. And now of all times. I wanted you to know how I feel. That, I can't think straight when you're not around because you're _always_ in my head or something. I used to love spending time alone in my room and now whenever you're out with Sasuke or something and I'm stuck here I feel like, I miss you. And then when I imagined you leaving for good I..."

I didn't realize I was holding my breath.

"I'm... not just, trying to pick up some last minute summer fling or anything like that..."

"I know you're not," I say. "Can I ask you something?" I manage out, trying not to faint. "When did you know?" I ask quietly, and curiously.

Boruto ponders over it. "A while actually," he concludes. "For the longest time you were just this annoying girl freeloading in my home. And then one day I woke up and realized you were my best friend." I blush, hanging onto every word. "And then after that... I was denying it for a while but, I just knew I liked you." Boruto's thumb rubs along my hand. "I didn't know when was the right time to tell you what with your whole secret undercover Uchiha heir thing going on, haha. And then my dad said your mom was on her way to Japan."

"Right," I recall.

"And, that's why I kissed you then in your room," Boruto finally explains. "I got scared. I wasn't sure if I was ever going to see you again. I... wasn't sure if I'd ever get the chance to tell you everything I wanted."

I purse my lips together, not sure how to react. I've never been confessed to by a boy before. How do I even feel?

"But like I said just think about it," he repeats seriously. "You have a lot going on. This thing with me definitely isn't a priority."

"Don't say that," I lecture back. Boruto jolts in surprise. Come on English work. "Boruto I-"

His watch starts to go off in a quiet alarm. There's a buzzing from my phone as well. It's almost seven. Boruto and I look at each other with wide eyes, as if we've just woken up from a dream. It's almost time for the engagement announcement. Any minute Sasuke's going to be called up to the top of the ballroom staircase again with Kanna. "We should go find the guys," Boruto whispers, putting my arm down as our dance stops.

I nod anxiously and we depart off the dance floor.

Right on que, one of the foot-men taps his baton scepter staff thing, and all attention is on him. "Your host, Sasuke Uchiha, has an announcement to make!"

"Excuse me. Pardon me." Boruto and I whiz through the crowd holding hands as to not lose each other, trying to find any of the others. Soon enough all three of them bump into us somewhere near the center. "Geez where the hell were you guys?" Shikadai argues.

"Where were we? Where were you!" Boruto waves off.

"Off making kissy faces I bet," Inojin shoots. Boruto looks ready to tackle him so I hold him back as Shikadai and Mitsuki get between them.

"Not now!" I scold.

"Ahem." I turn around, seeing Sasuke holding Kanna at the top of the staircase. I knew what was going to happen. We rehearsed this earlier. But seeing it all now happen before my eyes, there's this pang of pain in my heart. _Mom isn't going to come_.

I'm stuck watching Sasuke's speech about 'true love' proceed, and Shikadai shoves his way beside me and shakes me. "Hey," he snaps, pulling the game-remote makeshift from my dress pocket and putting it in my hands. "Are we gonna do this or what?" he whispers harshly.

My hand is shaking. I look at each of the guys, who look cautious and as nervous as I am. Am I really going to do this? Mom's not coming. Sasuke's getting engaged. I'm not going to let my family fall apart right when they're so close. I flip open the game device and have both hands on it. My right thumb hovers over the button as I wait.

"-I knew it was meant to be when she returned to me here in Japan. Our love took time, but I knew this time around I couldn't let her go," Sasuke continues, all acted emotion evident in his voice. It was convincing that's for sure. She watches longingly, holding his hand and standing all pretty. He lets go of her hand and reaches into his pocket. "She is my life. My world." Sasuke glances in my direction, and the heartbreak in my eyes is as clear as light. "And I'd give anything so she could have the life she deserves."

A tear drips down my face, and I aggressively wipe it away with an arm. He bends down on one knee and holds the box up with two hands, facing Kanna. Gasps wave about the crowd and I brace myself. _I'm gonna do it!_

Literally a second before Sasuke can ask the dreaded question and before I can press the button, a loud slam of the front doors rings about the entire ballroom. It echoes like a cannon, and when the two corridors hit the walls in full opening, a second 'boom' erupts. Everybody's head turns as do ours. As does Sasuke's.

And panting at the foot-kicked double door entrance stands Sakura Haruno, holding the hem of her gown and panting like she'd ran a marathon. Oh god she did it.

Everyone's shocked into silence. No one would dare be the first to say a word. She scans the room aggressively, looking for the yellow-haired idiot who dragged her all the way out there in the first place. Her gaze soon lands up above at the familiar man who was the cause of all this. His image on one knee holding a ring box to another woman though is enough to bring her to silence as well.

" _Do it now_!" Shikadai reminds me, pressing my thumb over the button and snapping me out. I press hard on the X button, and within the next three seconds. Portions of the ballroom light switch off. And off. And then we're in complete black. The rest of the mansion's power can be heard shutting down, until even the lights outside run dark. All that's left illuminating the room is the moonlight from beyond the windows. It's pitch black.

Time has stopped. Even for a little bit.

* * *

 **NEXT CHAPTER:**

 _ **"Wow," Boruto stares, completely exhausted after the mansion evacuation. It was almost eleven by now.**_

 _ **"Yeah," I say shaking my head. "I can't believe what just happened."**_

 _ **x-x-x-x**_

 _ **"I, I-I knew I saw you," Sasuke blinks, looking at her. He's almost laughing in disbelief, like this is a prank from Naruto or something. One, he had no idea she'd be there. Two, she looked beautiful. Three, he felt like a kid again completely at a loss for words because of the same woman that always left him speechless. "I was afraid you'd left during the black out evacuation, or I was just imagining you, kicking down the door. Which you dented by the way."**_

 _ **"Sorry," she laughs, putting some hair behind her ear, feeling like a mess. "It wouldn't open and then I realized it was push not pull. Then I was so frustrated I just kicked it an, broke my heel." She holds up her shoes, one with a broken heel. Sasuke looks down, revealing she's barefooted from her teacup length ballgown. He laughs too, causing her to laugh.**_

 _ **I stand behind my mom, grinning as I watch this whole scene happen.**_

 _ **x-x-x-x**_

 _ **"I'm staying at that fancy hotel for a week."**_

 _ **"I see," Sasuke says.**_

 _ **Hinata comes up to the group finally, Naruto's blazer around her shoulders. "Sakura you should stay with us at the mansion." If a record scratch sound effect were real, it'd be hitting hard. Right now. "Naruto mentioned she'd lost most of her belongings while traveling in a rush over here."**_

 _ **"Please no," Sakura politely declines. "I have money back in my card and I can manage just fine on my own."**_

 _ **"We insist," Itachi smiles charmingly, coming up behind Hinata with a team working arm around her as they hold their front.**_

 _ **x-x-x-x**_

 _ **Sakura shakes her head in disbelief. "You've become unusually better at communicating your feelings. It's almost like a totally different Sasuke Uchiha standing in front of me."**_

 _ **"You too. You're a lot more brash and unphased than I remember you being," Sasuke says, unable to figure her out. Yet, he could. Years of thinking being left, it can only harden a person he imagined. The same way grief did for him.**_

 _ **The only difference was, he had a chance for his daughter to reverse that completely. Sakura however, he thought, despite raising her she hasn't had a chance to heal yet from this whole messed up situation.**_


End file.
